Lebanon has appealed to the United Nations to intervene over what it calls Israel's deliberate targeting of media workers, citing 28 journalist deaths since October 2023, as Israeli soldiers admit to large-scale looting of civilian property in the south of the country.

Lebanese ambassador to the UN in Geneva Caroline Ziadeh wrote to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk setting out concerns about a pattern of Israeli strikes hitting journalists working in Lebanon, Middle East Monitor reported on April 24.

Ziadeh cited records compiled by the Lebanese Ministry of Information covering incidents dating back to early 2023. She singled out Sawt Al Farah radio presenter Ghada Dayekh and Suzanne Khalil, who had worked for both Al Nour radio and Al Manar TV.

The appeal comes as Lebanon has also accused the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) of targeting this week Amal Khalil, who was allegedly targeted earlier this week, prior to the report's publishing. 

The ambassador put the total number of Lebanese media workers killed in Israeli operations since mid-October 2023 at 28, covering both reporters and photographers. None of the deaths had led to prosecutions, she said.

Ziadeh called the pattern of killings a serious breach of international humanitarian law and reminded Turk of the treaty obligations on protecting journalists in armed conflict. She asked the high commissioner to strengthen legal protections, back investigations that might deliver accountability, and press Israel to stop the strikes and meet its international obligations.

Separately, Israeli soldiers and commanders deployed in Lebanon have told Haaretz that troops have been taking large quantities of civilian property from homes and businesses across the south.

The report, published on April 23, said the scale of the looting had grown partly because some Israeli military police checkpoints at exit points from south Lebanon had been dismantled, with others never established in the first place. One soldier told the paper that the absence of consequences had become the message itself.

Items being taken out of Lebanon included motorcycles, televisions and sofas, according to the testimonies. Soldiers said commanders were aware of what was happening and had chosen not to intervene.

The disclosures come the day after the funeral of journalist Emel Halil, who was killed in an Israeli strike on the village of Tayri in Nabatieh district on April 23.

A 10-day Lebanon-Israel ceasefire has been in force since April 17. US President Donald Trump said on the evening of April 23 that the two sides had agreed to extend the truce by three weeks following talks at the White House.

Italian troops attached to UNIFIL handed over a replacement statue of Jesus to a Christian family in south Lebanon earlier this week after an IDF soldier destroyed the original with an axe, according to Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.