Amal Khalil
Amal Khalil | |
|---|---|
آمال خليل | |
 | |
| Born | Al-Baisariyah, Sidon District, Lebanon |
| Died | 22 April 2026 Southern Lebanon |
Cause of death | Killed in an Israeli airstrike (2026 Lebanon war) |
| Citizenship | Lebanese |
| Occupations | Journalist, reporter |
| Years active | 2006–2026 |
| Employer | Al Akhbar (Lebanese daily newspaper) |
| Known for | Coverage of Southern Lebanon, Israel-Hezbollah conflict |
Amal Khalil (Arabic: آمال خليل; died 22 April 2026) was a Lebanese journalist and reporter for Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese daily newspaper.[1][2] She was killed by an Israel Defense Forces airstrike in Southern Lebanon while covering the Israel-Hezbollah war.[3] She was killed in a house she was taking cover in amidst multiple Israeli airstrikes.[4][5] Khalil was the ninth journalist killed in Lebanon in 2026.[4] A Lebanese Red Cross ambulance trying to reach them was stopped by Israeli stun grenades and shootings, according to the Lebanese health ministry.[6]
Early life and education
Khalil was from Al-Baisariyah, a coastal village in Sidon District, Lebanon.[2]
Career
Khalil had been covering Southern Lebanon since 2006.[3] She had previously covered the destruction of homes in Lebanon by Israeli military forces occupying the country.[3]
In 2024, she told Al Jadeed that she received a threatening phone call from an Israeli phone number "warning her to leave the south and threatening to destroy her home and decapitate her".[7][8] After Khalil's death, Israeli commentator Gideon Gal Ben Avraham was identified as the person who made this phone call.[9]
2026 Israeli airstrike and death
According to Drop Site News, Khalil and fellow journalist Zeinab Faraj were working in southern Lebanon when a car they were following was hit by an Israeli drone strike at 2:45 pm local time, killing its occupants. Khalil and Faraj sought shelter in a nearby house, where Khalil called her editors and family. While Khalil was still alive, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun released a statement calling on the Red Cross and United Nations to help rescue Khalil and Faraj. At 4:27 pm, the house where Khalil and Faraj were sheltering was bombed by the Israeli military. The Red Cross attempted a rescue and successfully evacuated Faraj, who was injured, and two civilians who had been killed, but were forced to withdraw before reaching Khalil as the Israeli military fired on their vehicles and position. The Red Cross was eventually able to return to the area, where Khalil was pronounced dead.[9]
On 22 April 2026, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement condemning the Israel Defense Forces and accusing them of targeting Khalil.[10]
Lebanon's Press Club wrote that Khalil was killed "while she was carrying out her journalistic work, paying with her life and blood for a cause she believed in."[11]
Prime Minister of Lebanon Nawaf Salam accused Israel of war crimes and trying to prevent emergency workers from rescuing the injured of the attack, stating on X: "Targeting journalists and obstructing the access of rescue teams to them, and then the renewed targeting of those teams after they'd arrived, constitute described war crimes."[12]
See also
- Attacks on journalists during the Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present)
- Israeli war crimes
- List of journalists killed in the Gaza war
References
- ^ "Israeli strike kills journalist after ongoing attacks blocked rescuers, Lebanon says". The Guardian. 22 April 2026. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
- ^ a b ""Where Should I Be, Shama' or Khiam?": Amal Khalil's Two Decades of Militant Journalism | The Public Source". thepublicsource.org. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
- ^ a b c Mroue, Bassem; español, SARAH EL DEEB Leer en (22 April 2026). "Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil killed in Israeli strike on a house where she took cover, paper says". AP News. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
- ^ a b Deeb | AP, Bassem Mroue and Sarah El (22 April 2026). "Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil killed in Israeli strike on a house where she took cover, paper says". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
- ^ Maya Gebeily (22 April 2026). "Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon kill Lebanese journalist, wound another". Reuters. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
- ^ McArthur, Tom; Sullivan, Helen (23 April 2026). "Lebanon accuses Israel of targeting journalist killed in air strike". BBC News. Retrieved 17 May 2026.
- ^ "Amal Khalil, Lebanese journalist, receives Israeli death threat urging her to leave southern Lebanon". L'Orient Today. 14 September 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
- ^ Beaumont, Peter (23 April 2026). "Lebanese journalist killed in Israeli attack had spoken of death threat". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
- ^ a b Loffredo, Jeremy. "Lebanese Journalist Amal Khalil Bombed and Left to Die by Israel". Drop Site News. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
- ^ "Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil found dead after being trapped in rubble following Israeli strike, obstruction of rescue". Committee to Protect Journalists. 22 April 2026. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
- ^ "Lebanese Journalist Amal Khalil Dies After Attack". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
- ^ Mallo, Charbel; Qiblawi, Tamara; Noor Haq, Sana; Karni, Dana (23 April 2026). "Lebanese PM accuses Israel of war crimes after strike kills journalist". CNN. Retrieved 17 May 2026.