The Israeli army has admitted to photoshopping an image of Ali Shuaib , a journalist killed in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon on Saturday, after accusing the veteran reporter of being affiliated with Hezbollah.
Shuaib, a correspondent for al-Manar, an outlet considered close to Hezbollah, had been in a car clearly labelled as press near Jezzine when an Israeli strike killed him and two other journalists, Fatima Ftouni of the pro-Hezbollah Al-Mayadeen channel and her brother Mohammad Ftouni, a cameraman.
After the killing of the journalists caused international outrage, Israel issued a statement on social media, accusing Shuaib of being an operative with Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces while acting "under the guise of a journalist".
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee also accused Shuaib of being a Hezbollah intelligence-gatherer, without providing any evidence.
To support the claim, the army used a photo split in half, showing Shuaib in press gear on one side and, on the other, allegedly wearing a military uniform linked to the Iran-backed movement.
When asked about the source of the photo by Fox News on Sunday, however, the Israeli army responded that "unfortunately, there isn’t really a picture of it, it was photoshopped ", according to Trey Yingst, chief foreign correspondent for the American outlet.
On Monday, the Israeli military issued another claim alleging that Mohammad Ftouni was "an additional terrorist in Hezbollah's military wing, who also operated under the guise of a journalist".
It again did not provide any evidence to support the allegation and told AFP , "what we have is what we can state", when asked to provide further information.
The killing of Shuaib and his Lebanese colleagues has been widely denounced by the international community, with Lebanon’s president calling it "a blatant crime that violates all the norms and treaties under which journalists enjoy international protection in wars".
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) likewise condemned the strike, saying that 11 members of the press have been killed in Lebanon since 2023.
A previous report by the CPJ highlighted that 129 media workers were killed in 2025 , with Israel responsible for two-thirds of that record-breaking number.
The press rights organisation said that the Israeli army "has committed more targeted killings of journalists than any other government’s military since CPJ began documentation in 1992".
Israel has frequently targeted journalists in the region, claiming ties to Palestinian or Lebanese armed groups without providing tangible evidence to back their claims.
An investigation conducted by +972 magazine last August revealed the existence of a special unit within the Israeli military called the " Legitimization Cell ", tasked with gathering information from Gaza that could help bolster Israel’s image in the international media.
Among its responsibilities was identifying Gaza-based journalists to portray as undercover Hamas operatives, including veteran Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who was assassinated in an Israeli strike on 10 August last year.