Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday summoned Oded Joseph and lodged a strong protest over an Israeli airstrike that injured journalists from RT in southern Lebanon.Before entering the ministry building in Moscow, the Israeli diplomat declined to comment, saying he did not want to be late for the meeting.Following talks, Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Borisenko formally conveyed Russia’s protest, condemning the shelling of an RT television crew wounded in what it described as a missile strike by the Israeli Air Force.
The ministry called for a thorough investigation into the incident and urged measures to prevent similar actions in the future. Both sides also discussed the broader military and political tensions in the Middle East.The incident occurred a day earlier, when RT correspondent Steve Sweeney and cameraman Ali Rida Sbeity were injured while on assignment in southern Lebanon during an Israeli airstrike.Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the strike as “targeted,” stating that it hit unarmed civilians protected under international humanitarian law.
She noted that the journalists were clearly identified with “press” markings and were carrying only cameras and microphones in an area without military facilities.
