Abu Rahal, 55, a reporter for the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, was killed during a border
clash between Israeli and Lebanese military forces near the southern town of
news reports.
He was struck by an Israeli shell after a skirmish broke out
shortly after noon, news reports said. The fighting was apparently triggered by
an Israeli tree-cutting operation along the border, according to news reports.
Lebanese authorities claimed Israeli forces crossed the border during the
operation, an assertion
disputed.
Abu Rahal had covered southern
for Al-Akhbar for four years,
reporting extensively on the aftermath of the 2006 conflict between Israeli and
Hezbollah forces in
the newspaper said. He was married and had three children.
The fighting was the deadliest along the border since the 2006 conflict, according to news reports. Three Lebanese soldiers and one Israeli officer were killed in the clash, according to the BBC.