Labor Minister Mohammad Haider said that, "in the face of the heinous crime committed yesterday by the Israeli enemy in the town of Tayri — Bint Jbeil district — which targeted journalists Amal Khalil and Zeinab Faraj, resulting in Khalil’s martyrdom and Faraj’s injury, I condemn this criminal act, which constitutes a deliberate field execution of members of the press while carrying out their professional duty."
Haider said in a statement that "this crime cannot be separated from the blood of the many martyred and wounded media workers and journalists who had previously been directly targeted, confirming that we are facing an integrated approach and a systematic policy based on targeting everyone who carries a camera or conveys the truth from the field," noting that "what happened was neither an isolated incident nor an error in judgment, but a deliberate crime that clearly shows the enemy is acting under a political decision to silence the free press by pursuing journalists and targeting them even in places where they seek shelter, in flagrant violation of all international and humanitarian laws."
He stressed that "the targeting of journalists Amal Khalil and Zeinab Faraj, and the resulting martyrdom of Khalil and injury of Faraj, constitutes further evidence of this dangerous course aimed at eliminating witnesses to the crimes committed against civilians," saying: "In light of this reality, we call for turning these crimes into an issue of international public opinion, and not limiting ourselves to statements of condemnation, but moving toward a path of real accountability."
He called for "immediately pursuing the Israeli enemy before the competent international courts, particularly the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and activating the mechanisms of the United Nations Human Rights Council in a way that ensures the opening of international investigations and the holding to account of those responsible for these crimes. We appeal to international human rights organizations, foremost among them Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, to shoulder their responsibilities in documenting this crime and including it in international legal case files."
He also addressed an appeal "to organizations concerned with protecting journalists and press freedom, particularly the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and the International Federation of Journalists, to move immediately and effectively and exert pressure to pursue the perpetrators of these crimes and put an end to the policy of impunity."
He concluded by explaining that "the blood of Amal Khalil, and the blood of the media martyrs who preceded her, and the suffering of the wounded, place the international community before a moral and legal responsibility that brooks no delay. May God have mercy on the martyr Amal Khalil, and grant a speedy recovery to the wounded Zeinab Faraj. Condolences to her family and to her colleagues in the media and journalistic community."
