Sky News under fire for failing to disclose killed Lebanese journalist's ties to Hezbollah

Shoeib, a reporter for the Hezbollah-owned channel Al Manar, along with Fatima Ftouni and her brother, cameraman Mohamed Ftouni, both from the pro-Hezbollah Al Mayadeen channel, were killed in the southern Lebanese town of Jezzine on Saturday.

An Israeli strike is said to have hit their car just before noon.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed they had killed Shoeib and Mohamed Ftouni.

In a report from the funeral, Sky News' special correspondent Alex Crawford said the trio had died in what she described as a "targeted attack" by the Israeli military.

"The killings of these three journalists have caused outrage in Lebanon," Mrs Crawford says in the clip.

She added the Lebanese government had labelled the incident a potential war crime and called on the UN Security Council to launch an investigation.

The report later stated an Israeli spokesman had "attempted to justify" the strike but had provided "no evidence" Shoeib was a member of Hezbollah.

Despite this, a litany of Hezbollah flags were visible in the background of the footage, prompting critics to accuse the broadcaster of failing to acknowledge the journalists’ alleged links to the group.

Israeli research centre Alma claimed Shoeib was "Hezbollah's 'in-house correspondent' in southern Lebanon" who has been an "active participant in Hezbollah’s propaganda campaign for at least 21 years".

Meanwhile, the IDF has long claimed Shoeib belonged to Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force.

Channel Al-Manar was added to the United States' Terrorist Exclusion List in 2004.

In response, Mrs Crawford posted on X: "Both reporters worked for pro-Hezbollah outlets. Journalists are not legitimate targets, regardless of the outlet they work for. They were doing their jobs as journalists and (should) have been protected under (international) law. Baseless claims are not justification for targeted killings."

Footage shared by Mrs Crawford on social media later appeared to show one of the coffins at the funeral draped in a Hezbollah flag.

Former Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy responded online, writing: "This 'Lebanese journalist' was buried in a coffin draped in a Hezbollah flag, surrounded by Hezbollah flags, as mourners chanted 'Death to America!'

"I know because I watched @AlexCrawfordSky’s reporting, which claims Israel hasn’t provided evidence he was in fact a terrorist."

Replying, Mrs Crawford said "journalists are not legitimate targets no matter how much you disagree with their views or outlet".

She added: "Lebanon's president Joseph Aoun and the Lebanese Minister of Information Paul Morcos denounced the killing of the journalists, with president Aoun calling the attack 'a blatant crime that violates all the norms and treaties under which journalists enjoy international protection in wars,'"

Hezbollah condemned the strike as the "deliberate criminal targeting of journalists".

"The enemy's false claims are nothing but an expression of its weakness and fragility, and a desperate attempt to evade responsibility for this crime," the terrorist group said.

Adam Levick, UK Media Research Manager at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, said Shoeib’s work “for Hezbollah-owned Al Manar Network is indisputable, AS IS the fact that the segment itself was filmed at the Hezbollah military cemetery where Shoeib was buried, which, Crawford could clearly see, was festooned with Hezbollah flags, and included banners assuring Shoeib that he would 'find peace with Nasrallah.’”

"In the 15 years we've been monitoring British media coverage of Israel and the region, this is one of the most egregious examples of a mainstream outlet promoting propaganda that serves the interests of a proscribed terror group."

Sky News and Mrs Crawford have been contacted for comment.

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