An Israeli air strike has killed at least three journalists as they slept in their accommodation in southern Lebanon, in what news outlets say was a direct hit on an area removed from the continuing conflict between the Israeli military and Hezbollah.

The air raid hit a compound in Hasbaiyya housing several journalists at about 4am (01:00 GMT) on Friday, killing two cameramen and a technician.

“This is a very serious incident. Israel didn’t give any warning,” Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan said, reporting from the southern Lebanese city. “Hasbaiyya is under no evacuation orders and, in fact, it has been relatively calm.”

The victims were identified as cameraman Ghassan Najjar and engineer Mohamed Reda who worked for Al Mayadeen, the pan-Arab TV channel said. Al-Manar TV, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, said its camera operator Wissam Qassim was also killed.

Reporters at the scene said the bungalow where the men were sleeping was directly targeted.

Local news station Al Jadeed aired footage showing collapsed buildings and cars marked “press” covered in dust and rubble.

Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makary called the attack “a war crime”.

“This is an assassination, after monitoring and tracking, with premeditation and planning, as there were 18 journalists present at the location representing seven media institutions,” he wrote on social media platform X.

Ghassan bin Jiddo, the director of Al Mayadeen, said on X that Israel’s “targeting of the journalists’ residence was deliberate, and there are injured journalists from other Arab channels”.

“We hold the occupation fully responsible for this war crime, in which journalist crews, including the Al Mayadeen team, were targeted.”

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

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