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November 13, 2024 – Lebanon/Israel –
Lebanese radio journalist Sakina Mansour Kawtharani, a correspondent for Radio al-Nour, was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit her family home in the town of Joun, southern Lebanon. The attack, which also claimed the lives of her two young sons and multiple other family members, has sparked outrage across Lebanon and international media freedom circles.
According to reports from Middle East Eye and Al Jazeera, the strike targeted a residential building sheltering displaced civilians. In total, 15 people were killed, including eight women and four children. Mansour had recently returned to her family home due to escalating violence in the region. She is now among at least a dozen journalists killed in Lebanon during the current phase of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict.
Mansour’s death has prompted widespread condemnation from press freedom advocates and civil society organizations. The Lebanese Press Editors’ Syndicate, led by Joseph Qosseifi, decried the attack as not only a war crime but an assault on the right to report. The Women Press Freedom group called it a “heinous killing” and emphasized the targeted vulnerability of female journalists in war zones. They urged the United Nations, UNESCO, and the International Criminal Court to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.
Her killing underscores the extreme danger journalists face in Lebanon and Gaza, where media workers have increasingly become collateral—or deliberate—targets. Mansour was reportedly not engaged in active fieldwork at the time but was killed in what observers describe as a strike on a civilian residence. The Stop Murdering Journalists project listed her as a media martyr, adding her name to a growing list of journalists killed in 2024.
In the broader context, press groups such as Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists have documented dozens of journalist fatalities in the Middle East since October. The death of Sakina Mansour and her children serves as a grim reminder of the human cost of war, not only for civilians but for those who dedicate their lives to reporting the truth from the frontlines.
Calls for international accountability continue to grow as advocates stress that impunity must not be allowed to prevail.
Reference –
https://stopmurderingjournalists.com/martyrs/sakina-mansour-210
