Our team is back in London after two tough weeks in Lebanon. The first week of the trip came before the ceasefire. The risk of attack anywhere in the country was real and worrisome. The second week, there was supposedly a ceasefire but in practice, the agreement only geographically restricted bombing and Israeli strikes to an area of southern Lebanon, behind Israel’s so-called “Yellow Line”. Subsequently, the war has re-expanded to areas beyond that.
Covering stories in an active war zone is one of the most challenging assignments in the business. We rely on experienced local producers and drivers to tell us where we can go to limit the risk. We wear or carry personal protective equipment, or PPE. And we travel with a safety advisor. Our advisor reads daily security reports and watches our back while we are in the field. This person doesn’t carry a gun.
Even so, journalists become casualties. Israel has killed 210 Palestinian journalists in Gaza and 14 journalists in Lebanon since 2023. Some of those people appear to have been deliberately targeted. While we were there, Amal Khalil was killed while she was travelling to a village just across that Yellow Line. Israel accused her of being a terrorist although there is zero information to support that. Nor did the IDF provide any.
A few days after the ceasefire, we went as far south as we felt we could, to the village of Kfar Tebnit. It’s roughly 15 km from Israel’s border. The town was ruined and yet we still found people living there. The Yellow Line – which doesn’t exist physically, only on maps – was about 400 meters down the road. We drove to the spot and looked out on Israeli occupied Lebanon, and then we quickly turned around. A day or two later, there were Israeli attacks in Kfar Tebnit. Now, it’s one of the villages the IDF has ordered people out of.
So, the bottom line is, you never really know when you are safe. You make educated guesses and hope for the best. It usually works out. But not for everyone.
