Lebanon accuses Israel of war crimes over strikes on journalists, hospitals

Several Lebanese ministers on Oct. 25 accused Israel of committing war crimes by targeting journalists, hospitals and rescue workers amid the U.S. push to reach a diplomatic solution in Lebanon.

The first accusation came from Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati after Israel carried out a strike in the country's south and killed three media workers.

"The new Israeli aggression targeting journalists" was among the "war crimes committed by the Israeli enemy," Mikati said in a statement, adding the attack was "deliberate" and "aims to terrorize the media to cover up crimes and destruction."

Pro-Iran Lebanese television channel Al Mayadeen said cameraman Ghassan Najjar and broadcast engineer Mohammad Reda were killed in the strike on a journalists' residence in Hasbaya, south Lebanon.

Another TV outlet, Al-Manar, run by Hezbollah, said video journalist Wissam Qassem was also killed in the strike on a bungalow located in a resort that several media organizations covering the Israel-Hezbollah war had rented out.

After the strike a car bearing a "press" marking was crushed under debris. Roofing tiles were blown off, and rubble littered the inside of the bungalow and its surroundings.

Earlier, Information Minister Ziad Makary said Israel had "waited for the journalists' nighttime break" to strike while they slept.

"This is an assassination, after monitoring and tracking, with prior planning and design, as there were 18 journalists there representing seven media institutions," Makary wrote.

In another accusation, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said on Oct. 25 that Israel has carried out attacks on 55 hospitals, 36 of which were directly hit, leaving 12 people dead and 60 wounded.

Abiad told reporters...