Tragedy Strikes at Hasbaya Village Club

In quieter times, the Hasbaya Village Club served as a tranquil retreat in southern Lebanon, characterized by its charming vacation bungalows adorned with red tile roofs, nestled beside a gentle river and offering breathtaking views of the mountainous landscape near the Israeli border. Over the past month, these bungalows have transformed into a temporary haven for 18 journalists representing various international and Lebanese news organizations, as stated by Ziad T. Makary, Lebanon’s minister of information. These correspondents, along with cameramen and other media personnel, sought proximity to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah while hoping to retreat to a peaceful environment each evening.

However, the conflict unexpectedly reached their doorstep around 3 a.m. on Friday. In a devastating turn of events, three individuals lost their lives, and at least three others were injured following a powerful Israeli airstrike that obliterated three of the bungalows where they had been sleeping. This tragic incident marked yet another somber chapter in the perilous journey of journalists covering the ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, alongside Minister Makary, condemned the attack, labeling it a “war crime.” In a statement shared on social media platform X, the Prime Minister expressed, “This deliberate aggression undoubtedly aims to intimidate the media, seeking to obscure the crimes and destruction that are currently being perpetrated.”

In response, the Israeli military issued a statement asserting that the airstrike targeted a structure associated with Hezbollah. They claimed, “Following intelligence information, the I.D.F. struck a Hezbollah military structure in Hasbaya in southern Lebanon, from which Hezbollah terrorists were operating. The strike was executed while the terrorists were present inside the structure.”