Photojournalist Survives Strike That Killed Colleague

The ceasefire in Lebanon lasted only a few weeks before a strike in the south claimed the life of a veteran reporter. On 22 April, 21-year-old photojournalist Zeinab Faraj survived a series of attacks that killed her colleague, Amal Khalil, and left Faraj trapped under rubble.

Faraj and 42-year-old Khalil had agreed to travel to the village of al-Tiri to document the aftermath of a month of deadly airstrikes. They were accompanied by Ali Nabil Bazzi, a 27-year-old municipal official, and Mohammed Hourani, 37, a friend of the mayor. The group had met at Tebnine governmental hospital, a location residents viewed as relatively safe. Bazzi was returning to sign a marriage contract that evening but chose to join the drive north.

Faraj stated she did not hear the initial missile impact. She heard Khalil scream and saw the car ahead of them catch fire. As the women exited their vehicle, drones began flying low and close. Faraj recalled that one drone approached her face, rising again whenever she tried to cover it. Emergency services promised help was coming, a reassurance Faraj described as working like an anaesthetic. A paramedic advised them to drive away because ambulances were blocked, but a missile struck their car as they attempted to enter it.

The impact threw both women backward. Khalil wrapped her arms around Faraj and said she hoped the drone would think they were dead. The pair sheltered in a nearby house where Khalil, injured on the face, hand, and leg, could not move. Faraj sent a final message to her sister stating, "There's no hope left. Forgive me." A subsequent missile fell with a sound she had never heard before. Faraj woke trapped under debris, barely able to breathe, until paramedics cleared the wreckage.

Khalil is believed to have died approximately one hour before paramedics were permitted to re-enter the area. The Israeli military stated it identified saboteurs violating the ceasefire. Human rights groups labeled the attack a war crime, noting that the military received repeated requests to allow a rescue while the women sheltered. A week prior, an Israeli military spokesperson had shared a video of Khalil and labeled it terrorist media, while Khalil also received death threats from Israeli phone numbers.

Faraj is now preparing to return to university to finish her degree in radio and TV. She still struggles to walk properly and has a visibly injured hand. A facial injury has affected the movement of one eyebrow. She wakes at night screaming and remains on edge when she hears drones or warplanes. Faraj said she is uncertain about returning to frontline journalism and remains haunted by the image of Hourani on the ground, his eyes open and looking at her.