‘I’m burning’: Lebanese reporter recounts colleague’s last words after Israeli strike

Correspondent Zeinab Faraj was seriously wounded earlier this week in an IDF strike that killed reporter Amal Khalil

Wounded Lebanese journalist Zeinab Faraj has described the Israeli strike that killed her colleague Amal Khalil, prompting Beirut to accuse West Jerusalem of war crimes.

In an interview filmed from her hospital bed, Faraj broke down in tears as she recounted the ordeal and her final moments with Khalil.

On Wednesday, Khalil and Faraj were driving through the southern village of al-Tiri when an Israeli drone struck a car ahead of them.

“Completely silently, a missile hit that car. Amal screamed and abruptly turned to the side of the road. We got out of the car and covered under an entrance of some garage,” Faraj told Lebanese Al-Afdal News. Adding that Israeli aircraft were circling overhead along with drones before another missile struck Khalil’s car. Khalil was wounded by shrapnel, and as the vehicle caught fire, her back began burning as she shielded Faraj.

“She told me: ‘Zeinab, I’m burning!’ I grabbed her by her jacket and pulled her toward me,” she recalled. “I couldn’t endure it anymore, I was starting to burn too… I broke the garage door, and Amal and I started crawling inside.”

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The pair later hid in a bathroom. Faraj said time passed before she nodded off, with Khalil beside her. “We both lost hope... I woke up just as a missile was coming straight down at us and all I remember is the last moment I saw Amal – when I realized Amal was gone,” she said.

Colleagues said both were wearing gear clearly marked as press. Emergency workers pulled Faraj, who was seriously wounded, from the rubble, but efforts to reach Khalil were delayed after Israeli forces reportedly fired on rescue teams. Her body was recovered hours later.

The strike came despite a ceasefire reached earlier this month, with Israeli military still operating in occupied parts of southern Lebanon and reserving the right to attack what it labels threats.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Israel of the “deliberate and consistent targeting of journalists” to “conceal the truth of its aggressive acts against Lebanon,” while Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called the attack a “war crime.”

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Khalil’s death also drew condemnation abroad. Spanish authorities slammed the attack; Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said killing journalists was “part of a ruthless campaign to eradicate populations and seize land in pursuit of a colonial agenda” by Israel. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called it a “brutal killing” with “no justification.”

The Israel Defense Forces denied targeting journalists or rescue workers and said that the incident was under review.

Khalil is the ninth journalist killed by Israel in Lebanon since US-Israeli strikes on Iran reignited the conflict, according to Lebanese authorities. Previously, a March 28 IDF strike on a marked press car killed Al-Manar correspondent Ali Shoeib, whom Israel claimed was a Hezbollah operative without evidence. RT correspondent Steve Sweeney and cameraman Ali Rida Sbeity were also targeted on March 19, but survived with minor injuries.