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Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil, a reporter for Al-Akhbar newspaper, was killed on Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Al-Tayri.
Her body was recovered from rubble nearly six hours after the Israeli attack.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called it a "crime against humanity," and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Israel's targeting of journalists had become a "documented pattern of war crimes."
The Lebanese Health Ministry accused Israeli forces of firing on the Red Cross ambulance sent to rescue her.
Al-Akhbar's own account, citing Lebanese civil defense, provided a minute-by-minute reconstruction:
At 2:45 p.m., Khalil was driving behind a car when it was struck by Israeli forces, killing two men. She stopped and took shelter in the nearest house. At 2:50 p.m., she contacted several people to say she was hiding from the shelling.
At 4:27 p.m., Israeli warplanes struck the house.
Contact with Khalil was lost.
When the Lebanese Red Cross arrived, Israeli troops fired a stun grenade at the ambulance and opened fire on it, preventing the rescue of Khalil, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
Faraj was eventually evacuated alive with serious wounds, a fractured leg, and head injuries requiring surgery. Khalil's body was recovered shortly before midnight, at least six hours after the attack.
The Lebanese Red Cross confirmed it had found Khalil's body beneath the rubble, according to the National News Agency.
Civil defense and the Lebanese army were also on the scene.
Lebanese President Aoun posted a formal condemnation on X.
"Israel's deliberate and consistent targeting of journalists is aimed at concealing the truth of its aggressive acts against Lebanon.
Such actions constitute crimes against humanity, punishable under international laws and conventions, and should serve as an incentive for the international community to intervene and put an end to them," Aoun said.
He extended condolences to Khalil's family, to Al-Akhbar newspaper and to the Lebanese and Arab media community, describing the journalist as having "joined the caravan of martyred journalists who preceded her on the path of martyrdom in the land of the South."
He wished a speedy recovery to Zeinab Faraj.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam issued a formal statement on X, saying, "Targeting journalists, obstructing access to them by relief teams, and even targeting their locations again after these teams arrive constitutes described war crimes."
"Israel's targeting of media workers in the south while they carry out their professional duties is no longer isolated incidents but has become an established approach that we condemn and reject, as do all international laws and conventions," he noted.
"Lebanon will spare no effort in pursuing these crimes before the competent international forums," Salam added.
The Israeli army said its forces had identified "two vehicles in southern Lebanon that had departed from a military structure used by Hezbollah" and that "the individuals in the vehicles crossed the Forward Defense Line and approached the troops in a manner that posed an immediate threat to their safety."
It said it was not preventing rescue teams from reaching the area and that the incident was under review.
Al-Akhbar issued a statement saying, "As with every act of aggression, wearing a press vest did not protect those who wore it from the treachery of the Israeli enemy.
Instead, it has become a danger to journalists' lives, as part of a systematic Israeli policy aimed at silencing anyone who seeks to expose the crimes and practices of the occupation."
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was "outraged" and noted that the Red Cross had to wait for Israeli authorization to re-enter the site before Khalil's body was found.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) had earlier called on the international community to immediately pressure Israel to allow the rescue.
Khalil, 43, had covered the Israel-Hezbollah conflict since October 2023 and had reported from multiple locations across southern Lebanon. Faraj is a freelance photojournalist.
Over 2,200 people have been killed and over one million displaced by Israeli operations in Lebanon since March 2.
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