BEIRUT

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Friday that Israel’s targeting of journalists in southern Lebanon constitutes a "war crime" that will be referred to international authorities.

Mikati’s remark came after an Israeli airstrike killed three journalists and injured three others at their residence in the Hasbaya region of southern Lebanon early Friday morning.

In a statement, Mikati asserted that "the Israeli aggression targeting journalists and reporters in Hasbaya represents a new chapter in the war crimes committed by the Israeli enemy without any deterrent or international voice to halt the ongoing atrocities."

He emphasized that "this deliberate aggression aims to intimidate the media and obscure the crimes and destruction being perpetrated."

The Lebanese prime minister said he has directed the Foreign Ministry to include this latest crime in a series of documented files of Israeli crimes to be submitted to relevant international authorities, with the hope that "global conscience will intervene to stop the ongoing violence."

Earlier on Friday morning, the Lebanese Health Ministry said that "an airstrike by the Israeli enemy on the journalists' residence in Hasbaya, in Nabatiyeh Governorate, led to the martyrdom of three journalists and injuries to three others."

This incident marks the third time since the onset of hostilities in October 2023 that media personnel have been targeted by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Israel has mounted a huge air campaign in Lebanon since last month against what it claims are Hezbollah targets in an escalation from year-long cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Israel expanded the conflict this year by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi