Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

A 25-year-old Lebanese TV reporter and her cameraman are latest journalists to die covering the war

Total number of media workers killed since Oct. 7 is 53, highest casualty toll for journalists in 30 years

A young Lebanese TV reporter and her cameraman on Tuesday became the latest journalists killed in the Israel-Gaza war, bringing the total number of media workers who have died in the conflict to 53, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

More journalists have died in the past six weeks covering this war than at any other time since CPJ began tracking the numbers more than 30 years ago, the organization said.

Correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Me’mari were killed by an Israeli strike in Tair Harfa in southern Lebanon while reporting on military activity on the border with Israel. They worked for Al Mayadeen, described by The Associated Press as a Beirut-based, pan-Arab channel allied with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

In a post on the social media platform X, Al Mayadeen accused Israel of “deliberately” targeting the pair, saying they were “martyred” right after ending a live broadcast. 

Omar, 25, who held a master’s degree in journalism from Lebanese University, joined Al Mayadeen in 2021. Me’mari, 44, had worked for the station since 2012 and leaves behind a wife, Manal Jaafar, who also works for Al Mayadeen, and two children, ages 4 and 2. 

CPJ counts 46 Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese — including Omar and Me’mari — among the 53 journalists who have died covering the war that began with Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. In addition, 11 journalists have been injured, three are missing, and 18 have been arrested, CPJ said. Most of the arrests were carried out by Israeli soldiers raiding Palestinian journalists’ homes in the West Bank.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.