At least three paramedics have been killed in a series of successive Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, officials said, amid allegations that medical workers are being deliberately targeted in the ongoing conflict involving Hezbollah.
According to Lebanon’s health ministry, the attacks took place on Wednesday in Mayfadoun, located in the Nabatieh region of Lebanon, reports BBC.
Authorities said a team from the Islamic Health Association was first hit while trying to rescue victims from an earlier Israeli strike, killing one paramedic and leaving another missing.
A second rescue team sent to the scene was also struck, leaving three paramedics injured. Shortly afterwards, two ambulances belonging to the Risala Scout Association and the Nabatieh Ambulance Service were hit, killing two more paramedics and injuring three others.
The Israeli military has been contacted for comment.
Among those killed was 43-year-old paramedic Fadel Serhan of the Risala Scout Association, who had recently been featured in a BBC report. His team had been operating from a temporary tent set up outside Nabih Berri Hospital after their station in Mayfadoun was destroyed earlier in the conflict.
His colleague Ali Nasreddine said: “He was generous, ready to offer a hand to anyone. He had a very high sense of humanity and a great sense of humour.”
“In the previous war he had stayed here to offer help. In this war, he had also stayed. I’ll always remember him as a loving father, brother, and friend.”
Since 2 March, more than 2,100 people have been killed and 7,000 wounded in Lebanon, including 91 health workers. The health ministry also recorded more than 120 attacks on medical facilities.
The ministry condemned the strikes as a “flagrant crime”, saying “Paramedics have become direct targets, pursued relentlessly in a blatant violation that confirms a total disregard for all norms and principles established by international humanitarian law.”
Amnesty International warned that targeting medics could amount to a war crime.
