In southern Lebanon this weekend, an Israeli strike killed three journalists and multiple paramedics. To examine that incident and the challenges facing journalists reporting in the Middle East, Nick Schifrin spoke with Sara Qudaa of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Israeli airstrike kills 3 journalists covering war in southern Lebanon

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Nick Schifrin:

And to examine that incident and also the challenges facing journalists reporting in Lebanon and the larger Middle East right now, we turned to Sara Qudah, the Committee to Protect Journalists Middle East and North Africa regional director.

Sara Qudah, thanks very much. Welcome back to the "News Hour."

One of the journalists killed in Southern Lebanon was Ali Hassan Shaib. And the Israeli military released this statement saying it had targeted him, but calling him -- quote -- "a terrorist in the intelligence unit of Hezbollah's Radwan Force," accusing him of aiding Hezbollah in various ways while working as a journalist, and, in 2020, officially joining Hezbollah's military wing.

What can you tell us about him and Al-Manar, the outlet he worked for?

Sara Qudah, Committee to Protect Journalists: It is not a secret that Al-Manar TV is affiliated to Hezbollah and owned by Hezbollah.

But that does not make journalists who work with this media outlet or the TV station terrorists or in any way providing intelligence secrets. They are still civilians. IDF did not provide any kind of evidence that Ali or the other two journalists are participating in any military action.

There is a key principle under international military law. Journalists are considered civilians, and therefore they are protected from any kind of attacks unless they were in any way participating in conflict with an army.

But, until now, IDF did not provide any kind of evidence that Ali Shaib is part of Hezbollah or he has been part of the military. This is a pattern. It's not an isolated incident, and it became a playbook by Israeli authorities and the IDF.

We saw it in Gaza since 2023, where they were killing journalists, and after they killed them, they smeared them saying that they are terrorists and they were part of Hamas or participating in military actions.

Nick Schifrin:

We mentioned three journalists killed. Another one was photojournalist Mohamad Ftouni. The third journalist killed was Fatima Ftouni. That is Mohamad's sister.

And the Israeli military does not say that it targeted her, saying instead -- quote -- "The IDF directs its strikes to target terrorists and not journalists, and is operating to mitigate harm to civilians as much as possible."

Just three hours before Fatima Ftouni was killed, she recorded this video of herself. And she posted this video in 2024 from the site of another airstrike that allegedly targeted journalists, saying they were only armed with microphones and a press vest.

What do we know about her and how she died?

Sara Qudah:

The killing of Fatima was unfortunate. And I think it was even more painful than the killing of Ali and her brother Mohamad, because Fatima survived the first strike. And she tried -- footages and videos do show that she tried to escape from the car after it was targeted. But she was killed in another strike.

So saying that they did not try to target her or killed her, she survived the first strike. Why did they target her again after she was trying to escape the car?

Nick Schifrin:

Zoom out for us in Lebanon. How dangerous has it been in Lebanon to report on this war since the war in Iran began and since Hezbollah joined the war in Israel?

Sara Qudah:

Journalists are facing several dangers, one of them coming from Israeli strikes. But the other one is also from Hezbollah's obstruction and intimidation to journalists.

So far, we know of five journalists killed in Lebanon. Also, at least four media outlets' buildings, they were destroyed by Israeli strikes. On the other hand, Hezbollah is imposing severe restrictions on journalists. They are being questioned, detained. Their equipment is taken from them, searched. Their phones are searched. Their cameras are searched.

Nick Schifrin:

Let's zoom out here. It has been one month exactly since this war began, that Israel and the U.S. launched this war with Iran. Let's go through the region. How hard has it been, from what you can tell, for journalists to report, for example, from the Gulf?

What restrictions are they facing, given Iran's repeated attempts to try and hit targets throughout the Gulf?

Sara Qudah:

Across the region, across the Gulf, we have repeatedly seen authorities in Gulf countries, especially in Qatar and United Arab Emirates, where they imposed strict restrictions on journalists not to film or report on any kind of strikes that are happening in the country, not just the military bases and the military protected areas, but also strikes that are happening in civilian areas.

On the other hand, Iran, there's a nationwide Internet blackout, day number 31 today. And this is the longest in modern history where we see such an Internet blackout imposed on a country, which really hinders the ability of journalists to report and to inform citizens and the world about what is happening inside their country.

Nick Schifrin:

And so what should we understand about the images that are coming out of Iran? What should we understand about who has been allowed to broadcast these images from Iran?

Sara Qudah:

Some journalists were able to access the white Internet through people that they know, and they were able to transfer some footages and images, but the vast majority of the reporting is happening through state-owned media, which means that the country, the authorities, are controlling the narrative.

The same is happening in Israel. It's not very different. Journalists have been obstructed. Journalists on live air were obstructed and asked to stop filming and to stop reporting on what's happening.

Nick Schifrin:

Sara Qudah of the Committee to Protect Journalists, thank you very much.

Sara Qudah:

Thank you, Nick.