Reuters journalist killed, others injured in southern Lebanon

One Reuters journalist has been killed and two others injured in southern Lebanon, the news wire service says.

“We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed. Issam was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon who was providing a live signal,” a Reuters spokesperson said on Friday.

“We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issam’s family and colleagues. Our thoughts are with his family at this terrible time.”

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Two other Reuters journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were also injured and are seeking medical care, the wire agency said, adding: “Our thoughts are with their families at this terrible time.”

A Reuters live video stream of the Lebanon-Israel border area earlier in the day showed footage of an explosion, shaking and thick smoke before cutting to black shortly before the statement was issued.

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Israeli shelling hit a Lebanese army observation post at the border on Friday, three sources in Lebanon told Reuters, after the Israeli military warned of a suspected armed infiltration that it said it was responding to with artillery fire.

The Associated Press reported the shell that hit the group of international journalists was Israeli. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the matter.

The AP reported said the shell killed one journalist and left six others injured.

Al Jazeera reported that its cameraperson Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar were also wounded.

Israel later ruled out that any incursion had occurred and residents of a village near the border, who had been instructed to hole up at home and lock doors and windows, were told they could again go outdoors.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed, heavily armed Hezbollah group later said it had carried out attacks on a number of border areas as a response to attacks Israel carried out earlier in the day on south Lebanese towns.

— with files from Reuters and The Associated Press