Health workers in Lebanon describe deadly Israeli attacks on colleagues and fear more

BEIRUT — The Israeli military struck without warning at the gates of a hospital in southern Lebanon on Friday, killing seven medics and forcing the facility to close, the hospital director told The Associated Press, a day after one of the deadliest attacks on health workers in Lebanon in weeks Escalation of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

The report on Friday’s airstrikes, which ripped hospital doors off their hinges and shattered glass, was the latest to detail attacks that killed dozens of health workers, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

Marjayoun Hospital director Mounes Kalakesh said that even before Friday’s attack, rescue workers in the area were so reluctant to operate that the facility did not admit the wounded for days.

“We couldn’t work. There was fear and panic among the employees,” he said.

Kalakesh said the government hospital received no warning from Israeli forces before the attack, although surrounding villages received such warnings to evacuate.

Israel has not specifically commented on the incident. Friday’s attack came hours before Israel’s Arabic-speaking military spokesman accused the southern Lebanon-based militant Hezbollah group of using ambulances to transport weapons and fighters and warned medical teams to stay away from the group. The spokesman provided no evidence.

It is an accusation that Lebanese officials and hospital directors, including Kalakesh, deny. Lebanon’s health minister has accused Israel of committing a “war crime” by attacking medical teams and medics.

The Health Ministry said Thursday that Israeli attacks had killed 40 medics, firefighters and health workers in three days, making it even more difficult to care for those wounded in the intense fighting.

The ministry said more than 100 health workers have been killed in the year since the war began in Gaza and since exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah intensified along the border.

The Islamic Health Committee’s medics are part of the Ministry of Health’s coordinated response to crises in Lebanon. Other civil defense teams expressed concern for their safety. Some said they were attacked while they were clearly identified and operating in areas where they were transporting the wounded or putting out fires.

Israeli attacks have landed near Marjayoun Hospital before, but never have they come this close, Kalakesh said. He described how the paramedics died in their burning vehicles.

The 45-bed hospital is now closed.

“I am responsible for this staff. I have to protect them,” said Kalakesh, explaining the decision to evacuate. There were 30 employees in the hospital at the time of Friday’s attack. His team was already exhausted after working on the front lines for a year.

Other groups expressed concerns.

A Lebanese Red Cross convoy escorted by Lebanese troops and coordinated with the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon came under fire on Thursday. A Lebanese soldier was killed and four Red Cross volunteers were injured.

Separately, Israeli forces on Thursday attacked Islamic Health Committee rescue teams in Beirut’s southern suburbs and the southern village of Odeissah, killing at least four people.

In Odeissa, ambulances were hit by Israeli fire and three medics who were injured in the initial attack were killed as rescuers tried to reach them, the health ministry said. In a Beirut suburb, the team clearing debris from the first airstrike was hit by a drone strike, killing one driver and wounding seven, said Mahmoud Karaki, spokesman for the Islamic Health Committee.

The focus on the health sector undermines the safety net for the public, Karaki said. He said 145 of his team members were injured last year.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, nine hospitals and 45 health centers were damaged during this time.

Hours after Friday’s attack outside Marjayoun Hospital, another hospital in the southern city of Bint Jbeil was shelled by Israeli forces after receiving a warning to evacuate. Nine members of the medical and nursing staff at Salah Ghandour Hospital were injured, most of them seriously.

Due to the damage, the hospital was later closed.