LONDON: The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for an impartial investigation into the killing of a Lebanese journalist, Hussain Hamood, during an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.
Hamood, a freelance reporter who worked with Hezbollah-affiliated broadcaster Al-Manar TV, died on Wednesday while filming an Israeli raid on the city of Nabatieh, according to two sources close to him cited by the committee.
“Lebanese journalist Hussain Hamood has paid the ultimate price for documenting what Israeli strikes are doing to his community,” said Sara Qudah, the CPJ’s regional director.
She called for Israel to “uphold its obligations under international law,” and be held fully accountable for the continued killing of media workers.
Lebanon’s minister of information, Paul Morcos, condemned the attack in which Hamood was killed, expressed his “deep sorrow” and appealed for the international community to ensure that journalists “are not targeted again” by Israeli strikes.
He added that he intends to raise the incident through official channels, “particularly at the United Nations.”
The CPJ said Hamood died a week after the killing of journalist Mohammed Sherri, who also worked for Al-Manar TV and died in an Israeli strike on a residential building in central Beirut on March 18.
The organization added that it has now documented the killing of at least four journalists in the Middle East since the start of war on Iran on Feb. 28.
