He died on the front line with two other journalists. On March 28, Ali Chouaib, a correspondent for the Hezbollah-owned channel Al-Manar, was killed by an Israeli strike in the Jezzine region in southern Lebanon. Shortly after, the Israeli army had labeled him as a “terrorist from the intelligence unit of the al-Radwan force”, an elite unit of Hezbollah, operating “under the cover of a journalist.”
Without providing any evidence to support this accusation, the Israeli military had published a “fake” image created by artificial intelligence showing him in Hezbollah uniform. The Israeli army had later admitted to this being a photoshopped image, and had then released a blurry picture claiming it to be Ali Schouaib.
“Accusations without clear evidence”
According to the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem (FPA), this was an attempt to discredit the Lebanese journalist. “Although the army clarified the first image, it should never have been released, as it is ‘fake’,” the FPA denounced on Wednesday, representing hundreds of journalists covering Israel and the Palestinian Territories for foreign media.
“During recent wars, it has become common for the Israeli army to try to discredit journalists and sow doubt by spreading inaccurate information and making accusations without providing clear evidence,” the FPA added in a statement. Since 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented at least 11 Lebanese journalists and media professionals killed by Israel.
[Context: The article discusses the death of a journalist in a missile strike in Lebanon and the subsequent accusations made by the Israeli military against him.] [Fact Check: Please note that the dates mentioned in the article beyond the current year are fictional and are part of the translated content.]
