War correspondent Steve Sweeney and cameraman Ali Rida were injured Thursday when Israeli military forces attacked them as they were recording a report in southern Lebanon.
The pair were filming a piece for Russia Today (RT) on al-Qasmiyeh bridge in Lebanon’s Tyre region when they were targeted by an Israeli warplane. Both are reportedly conscious and receiving treatment in hospital.
Footage circulating on social media shows Sweeney—a former reporter for the British newspaper Morning Star whose articles frequently appeared in People’s World—leaping off screen as he filmed his report, quickly followed by an explosion behind them.
Margaret Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT, said: “Our correspondent Steve Sweeney has been wounded by an Israeli strike in Lebanon. He says an IDF plane fired upon the car carrying Steve and his cameraman as they were crossing a bridge in the south of the country.”
Simonyan emphasized, “War journalists are not legitimate targets.”
The day before the attack on Sweeney and Rida, Lebanese journalist Mohammed Sherri was killed alongside his wife in an airstrike by Israeli forces on a residential building in Beirut. Sherri was a prominent news anchor and head of political programs for Al-Manar TV.
According to the International Federation of Journalists, at least 235 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023, with killings continuing despite the October 2025 ceasefire announcement. The IDF’s assassination of reporters is now expanding to Lebanon.
The attempted killing of Sweeney came as dozens of civilians have been killed or wounded in the offensive that Israel claims is targeting Hezbollah forces.
The latest Israeli raids included the targeting of a house in the town of Burj Shemali in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese capital Beirut also continues to come under heavy attack.
At least 45 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon over the past two days, and more than 100 injured, including children, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said on Thursday.
Lebanese authorities say that at least 968 people have been killed in Israeli air attacks since March 2. The World Health Organization reports that at least 100 of those killed were children.
The United Nations warned on Wednesday that well over one million people have been displaced by the fighting, around one third of them children. Meanwhile, the European Union has called on Israel to halt its attacks on Lebanon.
A spokesperson for the EU said it was “deeply concerned about the ongoing Israeli offensive,” saying that “Israel should cease its operations in Lebanon.”
In the U.S., the Trump administration remains silent on its ally’s war on Lebanon.
Morning Star
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