Media professionals hold protest vigil in Saida against Israeli killing of journalists

Tens of media professionals in Saida held a protest vigil Friday morning to express "anger and condemnation" over the continued killing of journalists by Israel, L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south reported.

During the protest, held under the banner ‘Israel Kills Journalists,’ photos were raised of Al-Manar TV journalist Sheikh Ali Noureddine, who hosted a religious program on the channel and was killed on Monday in an Israeli drone strike that targeted him in Hosh (Sour.)

Participants held banners reading: "We will remain on the path of resistance," "Targeting journalists is a war crime," "Ali Noureddine was not carrying a weapon; he was carrying a voice and a conscience," and "Words do not kill, truth cannot be bombed, and free media cannot be defeated."

The statement of the Photographers’ Syndicate, delivered by photographer Zuhair Qassir, called on the Lebanese government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to "take the issue of targeting journalists to international forums and pressure Israel to adhere to international treaties and laws."

He added that "Israel’s assassination of journalists aims to conceal its repeated crimes," stressing that media professionals "will not leave the field. Our images and our reports will continue to expose the crimes of the Israeli enemy.”

By L'Orient Today's count, 14 journalists have been killed in Lebanon since the conflict broke out between Hezbollah and Israel on Oct.8 2023.

According to a December report by Reporters Without Borders, nearly 220 journalists have been killed by Israel since the launch of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, making the Palestinian territory by far the deadliest place in the world for journalists.

Reporting contributed by our correspondent in the south Muntasser Abdallah