Rights groups say that an Israeli attack in south Lebanon that killed reporter Amal Khalil and wounded another journalist on April 22 — after a ceasefire was declared — was an apparent “war crime”, AFP reports.

Khalil, a 42-year-old reporter for Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, and freelance camerawoman Zeinab Faraj had taken refuge in a building in the village of Al-Tiri after an Israeli strike hit a vehicle travelling in front of theirs.

The building was subsequently attacked, and while Faraj was rescued, Lebanese authorities accused the Israeli army of obstructing efforts to save Khalil while she was still alive.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Lebanese rights group The Legal Agenda have released the findings of separate investigations into the attack.

HRW said the Israeli strikes “included apparently deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects, which would make them war crimes”. Amnesty decried a “direct attack on civilians which should be investigated as a war crime”.

Both groups said the Israeli army “knew or should have known” that the pair were civilians, noting Israeli drones were present at the attack site.