Israeli TV journalist slammed for blowing up Lebanon building

A well-known Israeli TV presenter for Israel’s Channel 12 has been slammed after footage emerged showing him blowing up a building in Lebanon.

Danny Kushmaro was filmed wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet as an Israeli soldier explained how to detonate an explosive device attached to a nearby building.

The soldier claims it was used to launch rockets into northern Israel, with the journalist then pressing the button as watches the building crumble.

The footage showed a countdown and plumes of smoke blanketing the area amid the sound of cheers, as Kushmaro looks to the camera and says: "Don’t mess with the Jews."

It was later reported that the building Kushmaro blew up was in the southern Lebanese village of Ayta Ash Shab, which has been pounded by Israel since mid-September.

According to Haaretz, the TV presenter has covered Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023 and garnered a loyal viewership for his "unintentionally comic" dispatches.

"He quickly turned himself into a useful part of the propaganda machine," the report from Haaretz describes him.

Calls for accountability 

Kushmaro’s actions have since been lambasted widely on social media platforms, particularly as Israel regularly targets journalists in Gaza and Lebanon.

Since 7 October 2023, 123 Palestinian and six Lebanese journalists have been killed in Israel's assaults on the two territories, including five in Gaza on Sunday. Gaza remains out of bounds for international media, bar those journalists embedded with the military.

"An Arab journalist in a vest that says PRESS taking pictures in Gaza is a terrorist, but an Israeli journalist carrying a weapon and blowing up a residential building in another country is a journalist," one social media user sarcastically commented.

"They carry out these acts of destruction and carnage with impunity, broadcast brazenly and proudly, whilst executing Palestinian & Lebanese journalists," another commented.

Many called for accountability and pointed out that the footage could be used in international criminal courts for evidence of war crimes.

Tomer Simon, an Israeli emergency management expert said that Kushmaro crossed "a moral and legal line".

"The Geneva Convention protects journalists on the battlefield only when they are acting as journalists. As soon as they take a direct part in the military activity, they become legitimate and completely legal military targets for the other side," he warned about the implications of the journalist's actions.

Others, from members of MKs to journalists, condemned Kushmaro’s actions.

Ofer Cassif, an MP for the Hadash party, highlighted irony as Kushmaro's next report was about "Hamas terrorists disguised as journalists".

Haaretz stated that Kushmaro’s "reporting from the battlefield was always problematic… Kushmaro seems infatuated with the Israel Defence Force officers, speaks of how proud he is of Israeli soldiers, idolises the sacrifices they are making for their country".

His reporting, since the launch of Israel’s wars on Gaza and Lebanon, has not included interviews with local Palestinians or Lebanese people, and instead presents them as "bloodthirsty, greedy, religious fanatics who could have had wonderful, quiet lives, but chose instead to attack innocent Israelis and brought destruction upon themselves".

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 42,924 Palestinians and wounded over 100,833 others since October 2023. The war on the enclave has levelled entire neighbourhoods and plunged the Strip into a deep humanitarian crisis.