Two journalists injured by shots from the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, report the Lebanese NNA and “L’Orient-Le Jour”
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported on Tuesday that Israeli forces opened fire on a group of journalists covering the return of residents in Khiam, a town in southern Lebanon. According to the same source, the attack left two injured, who were taken to a hospital to treat their injuries.
These two journalists injured, according to the Lebanese newspaper The East-The Daythe photographer of the Associated Press (AP) agency, Mohammad Zaatari, and the reporter of the Russian agency Sputnik, Abdel Qader Al-Bai. Quoted by the newspaper, the head of the Lebanese press editors’ union, Joseph Qosseifi, condemned the incident and stated that it constitutes “The first violation of the ceasefire agreed on Tuesday.”
“We saw people inspecting their houses and at the same time we heard the sound of the tanks withdrawing”Al-Bai told Agence France-Presse. “While we were filming, we noticed that there were Israeli soldiers in a building and suddenly they shot at us”he added. “It was clear that we were journalists”he added.
Mr. Al-Bai, as well as a photographer for the group, Ali Hachicho, said they saw a drone in the area before shots were fired. Hachicho claimed to have seen Israeli soldiers nearby. “When I brought the camera closer to my eye, I heard the sound of bullets between our feet.”said.
Neither AP nor Sputnik confirmed that their journalists had been affected.
