Shafaq News- Beirut
Israeli strikes on Friday killed four paramedics in the southern Lebanese town of Deir Qanoun Al-Nahr and two others in Hanaway, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Several others were also injured in the attacks, the ministry said, condemning the attacks as “a crime before the international community.”
A day earlier, an Israeli strike targeted the vicinity of Tebnine Governmental Hospital in Bint Jbeil district, injuring nine people, including seven hospital employees, five of them women, and causing major damage to the hospital’s emergency department, intensive care and chemotherapy units, MRI facilities, operating rooms, patient wards, waiting halls, ambulances, electrical infrastructure, surveillance systems, and staff housing sections.
Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed 116 healthcare workers and injured 263 others across Lebanon, the ministry reported. The healthcare sector sustained 147 attacks during the same period, including 139 strikes affecting ambulances, damage to 16 hospitals, and attacks on 31 healthcare centers. At least 60 medical institutions were directly targeted.
According to the World Health Organization, attacks on healthcare facilities and workers in Lebanon have repeatedly disrupted access to medical care in conflict-hit areas. On April 9, the WHO representative in Lebanon, Abdinasir Abubakar, warned that hospitals could run out of life-saving trauma supplies within days after mass casualty incidents depleted nearly three weeks of medical stock in a single day.
Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Office warned that attacks targeting medical personnel and healthcare facilities could constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law, particularly as continued strikes severely undermine civilian access to treatment.
Friday’s attacks came eight days after the United States announced a 45-day extension of the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire following negotiations in Washington on May 14-15. The US State Department later announced that direct military talks between Lebanese and Israeli delegations are scheduled to begin at the Pentagon on May 29, followed by political discussions on June 2-3.
Despite the extension, Israeli strikes have continued across southern Lebanon, with Israel claiming that it is targeting Hezbollah operatives, weapons infrastructure, and efforts to rebuild military capabilities. Hezbollah has meanwhile continued launching attacks, increasingly using fiber-optic suicide drones targeting troops, vehicles, positions, and settlements along the southern border, describing its operations as a response to repeated Israeli ceasefire violations.