Zeinab Faraj crawls from rubble after al-Tiri strike kills veteran reporter Amal Khalil
A photojournalist survived a second missile hit in southern Lebanon, while her colleague died an hour after the first attack.
By Harper Hassan ·
Zeinab Faraj, a 21-year-old photojournalist, escaped a missile strike in southern Lebanon on April 22, 2026. She was trapped under rubble for several hours before paramedics pulled her free. Her colleague, Amal Khalil, a 42-year-old newspaper reporter, died in the same attack.
The strike occurred in the village of al-Tiri, less than two months after Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire. Faraj and Khalil were documenting the aftermath of the war when a missile hit the car ahead of them. Two men in that vehicle, municipal official Ali Nabil Bazzi and Mohammed Hourani, were killed immediately.
Faraj described the chaos as drones circled overhead. Emergency services told the two women to drive back up the road, but the vehicle was struck by a second missile. Khalil wrapped her arms around Faraj as the impact threw them backward. They took shelter in a nearby house while drones continued to fly low and close.
Khalil sustained visible injuries to her face, hand, and leg. Faraj sent a message to her sister that read, 'There is no hope left. Forgive me.' She then crawled to a position where she could watch the road. Another missile struck the building, pinning Faraj under debris.
A paramedic reached the scene and held Faraj by the shoulders while a second worker cleared the rubble. He remained with her until she was pulled free. Khalil was believed to have died approximately one hour before the paramedics returned to the area.
The Israeli military stated the attack targeted saboteurs violating the ceasefire. Human rights groups classified the incident as a war crime. Military officials had recently described Khalil’s work as 'terrorist media' and sent her death threats from Israeli phone numbers.
Faraj is now preparing to return to university. She suffers from a limp and visible injuries to her hand and face. She wakes screaming at night and remains startled by the sound of drones. The image of Hourani’s open eyes still haunts her recollections of the strike.
Source: The Guardian
