Amal Khalil
Lebanese journalist (died 2026)
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Amal Khalil (Arabic: آمال خليل; died 22 April 2026) was a Lebanese journalist and reporter for Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese daily newspaper.[1][2] Khalil was killed by an Israel Defense Forces airstrike in Southern Lebanon while covering the Israel-Hezbollah war.[3] Khalil was killed in a house she was taking cover in amidst multiple Israeli airstrikes.[4][5] Khalil was the ninth journalist killed in Lebanon in 2026.[4] A Lebanese Red Cross ambulance trying to reach them was stopped by Israeli stun grenades and shootings, according to the Lebanese health ministry.[6]
Amal Khalil | |
|---|---|
آمال خليل | |
| Born | Al-Baisariyah, Sidon District, Lebanon |
| Died | 22 April 2026 Southern Lebanon |
Cause of death | Killed in an Israeli airstrike (Israel-Hezbollah war) |
| Citizenship | Lebanese |
| Occupations | Journalist, reporter |
| Years active | 2006–2026 |
| Employer | Al Akhbar (Lebanese daily newspaper) |
| Known for | Coverage of Southern Lebanon, Israel-Hezbollah conflict |
Early life and education
Khalil was from Al-Baisariyah, a coastal village in Sidon District, Lebanon.[2]
Career
Khalil had been covering Southern Lebanon since 2006.[3] She had previously covered the destruction of homes in Lebanon by Israeli military forces occupying the country.[3]
In 2024, Khalil told Al Jadeed that she received a threatening phone call from an Israeli phone number "warning her to leave the south and threatening to destroy her home and decapitate her".[7][8] After Khalil's death, Israel commentator Gideon Gal Ben Avraham was identified as the person who made this phone call. [9]
2026 Israeli airstrike and death
According to Drop Site News, Khalil and fellow journalist Zeinab Faraj were working in southern Lebanon when a car they were following was hit by an Israeli drone strike at 2:45 pm local time, killing its occupants. Khalil and Faraj sought shelter in a nearby house, where Khalil called her editors and family. While Khalil was still alive, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun released a statement calling on the Red Cross and United Nations to help rescue Khalil and Faraj. At 4:27 pm, the house where Khalil and Faraj were sheltering was bombed by the Israeli military. The Red Cross attempted a rescue and successfully evacuated Faraj, who was injured, and two civilians who had been killed, but were forced to withdraw before reaching Khalil as the Israeli military fired on their vehicles and position. The Red Cross was eventually able to return to the area, where Khalil was pronounced dead.[9]
On 22 April 2026, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement condemning the Israel Defense Forces and accusing them of targeting Khalil.[10]
Lebanon's Press Club wrote that Khalil was killed "while she was carrying out her journalistic work, paying with her life and blood for a cause she believed in."[11]
