Lebanon’s Mikati: Targeting journalists ‘new stain added to’ Israel's ‘black record’

By Wassim Seifeddine

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AA) - Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Friday that the Israeli army’s “direct targeting” of journalists in its ongoing bombing of Lebanese territory is “a new stain added to its black record.”

Mikati’s statements come after Lebanese Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was killed Friday in Israeli shelling on southern Lebanon.

Mikati wished a speedy recovery to other injured journalists “who were targeted by direct Israeli bombing while covering the Israeli aggression against the south."

The Al Jazeera news agency reported that its correspondent Carmen Joukhadar and photographer Elie Brakhia were injured in an Israeli bombing that targeted their car in southern Lebanon.

The development came as Israel remains on high alert along its northern border against the Hezbollah group in Lebanon, while the Israel-Palestine conflict rages in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The conflict escalated into a humanitarian crisis Oct. 7 when the Palestinian Hamas group’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood -- a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea and air.

Hamas said the operation was in retaliation for the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip.

Israel's response has extended to cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening living conditions in an area that has reeled under a crippling siege since 2007.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi