Lebanese

An Israeli airstrike killed Amal Khalil on Wednesday and injured her colleague in the south of Lebanon. The journalist's colleagues accuse Israel of targeting her deliberately and obstructing first responders from reaching her in time to save her life, which Israel denies.

Media rights groups condemn killing of Amal Khalil, who said in 2024 she had been threatened by ‘an Israeli enemy’Middle East crisis – live updatesThe Lebanese journalist killed in an Israeli attack on Wednesday had previously complained of receiving a threat via an unidentified Israeli phone number that she would be killed if she did not leave southern Lebanon, where she had long been based and worked.Amal Khalil, 43, who worked for al-Akhbar newspaper and had described herself as supporting the resistance against Israel “whether communist or Islamist”, was killed in a sustained attack by Israeli forces in which a colleague was also wounded. Continue reading...

• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet Lebanese and Israeli military commanders in Washington D.C. on Tuesday as the Trump administration seeks to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. • Israel has signaled that negotiations will focus on disarming Iran-backed Hezbollah, while Hezbollah has called on the Lebanese government to withdraw from talks with Israel. • The latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated on March 2, following the US-Iran military exchange, making the diplomatic effort a high-stakes initiative for regional stability.

Beirut residents and officials say thousand-pound-bombs mainly hit civilians in mission dubbed ‘Operation Eternal Darkness’Middle East crisis – live updatesIt took Israel only 10 minutes to carry out one of the worst mass-killings in Lebanon since the end of the country’s civil war in 1990.Omar Rakha heard the war planes but did not feel the explosions; it was only when he woke up face down on the street, bleeding, that he understood what had happened. The building next to his in the Barbour neighbourhood of central Beirut had been destroyed by two Israeli bombs – he then ran through the flaming wreckage to find his sister, screaming. Continue reading...

As Israel expands its invasion of southern Lebanon, people are having to bury their dead in temporary gravesIn Lebanon, the dead are usually given one last glimpse of their home town before they are laid to rest. Hoisted high above the heads of the living, their casket is slowly marched through the streets where they grew up.It is the hands of their loved ones that guide them into their final resting place, already dug, and gently sprinkle dirt on their body. Continue reading...