Caught on camera: IDF drone strike wounds Hezbollah-linked reporter moments before broadcast

An Al-Manar television correspondent and a cameraman were wounded in an Israeli drone strike near Nabatieh in southern Lebanon on Sunday, with dramatic footage showing the blast interrupting preparations for a report. Ali Shabib, a correspondent for the Hezbollah-affiliated television network, was preparing to speak to viewers when the recording was abruptly cut off by the strike. Ali Shabib, a correspondent for the Hezbollah-affiliated television network Al-Manar said Shabib and cameraman Mohammed Barjawi sustained light injuries in an Israeli attack near their location while they were preparing a report for the network's main news broadcast. The two were taken for examinations at Sheikh Ragheb Harb Hospital and were in stable condition, the network said. 'They are expected to return to work soon,' Al-Manar said. Rising profile after death of senior correspondent Shabib's profile at Al-Manar had grown substantially in recent months, particularly following the death of senior correspondent Ali Shuaib in an Israeli strike in March. At the time, the IDF said Shuaib was a member of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force who had operated under the cover of journalism. Gallery Moments after the strike near Nabatieh in southern Lebanon 'He consistently worked to expose the locations of IDF forces operating in southern Lebanon and along the border, and maintained continuous contact with other terrorists in the Radwan Force in particular and Hezbollah in general,' IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said following the strike. After Shuaib's death, Shabib was increasingly featured in Al-Manar's coverage from the Nabatieh area and was described in Hezbollah-affiliated media as a rising figure whose 'talent shone during the two recent wars.' Reports also said the two correspondents had been close. Hezbollah-affiliated media accuse Israel Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese newspaper affiliated with Hezbollah, accused Israel of deliberately targeting media personnel. 'Once again, media outlets were targeted by Israeli fire in an attempt to silence them and prevent them from reporting on massacres committed against innocent civilians,' the newspaper wrote. It said Shabib and Barjawi were wounded during a wave of Israeli strikes around Nabatieh that it said also killed civilians. The paper cited several previous cases in which journalists affiliated with Hezbollah-linked or pro-Hezbollah media outlets were killed in Israeli strikes. Among them was Shuaib, as well as Al-Mayadeen correspondent Fatima Fatouni and her cameraman brother, who Al-Akhbar said were killed when a drone struck them on a road near Jezzine in southern Lebanon. It also cited the deaths of former senior Al-Manar official Mohammed Sherri and his wife in a strike on their Beirut apartment, and cameraman Wissam Qassem, who was killed in 2024 when Israel struck a gathering of journalists near Hasbaya. Escalation in southern Lebanon The incident comes amid renewed escalation along the Israel-Lebanon front as the IDF works to complete operations against Hezbollah infrastructure around the strategic Ali Taher Ridge. In recent days, Hezbollah has launched several explosive drones toward IDF forces in southern Lebanon. A Hezbollah terrorist also opened fire on troops from the Golani Reconnaissance Unit near Beaufort, lightly wounding two soldiers before being killed in the exchange. Israel responded with a series of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon, including command posts, weapons storage facilities and operatives, according to the IDF. Lebanese reports said several people were killed in the strikes, including civilians. The IDF said some of those reports were under review. The intensifying exchanges come as concern grows that repeated drone launches, localized firefights and Israeli airstrikes could further undermine the fragile ceasefire arrangement in southern Lebanon. For Al-Manar, Sunday's strike also revived memories of the March killing of Shuaib, whose death had opened the way for Shabib's growing prominence on the network.