On Thursday, November 15, an Israeli airstrike targeted the Baalbek Regional Center of the General Directorate of Civil Defense in the town of Duris in the Baalbek-Hermel governorate. The center had more than 20 personnel at the time of the strike.
So far, by this morning, 12 bodies have been retrieved and at least one was injured, according to members of the group. One of those killed in the strike was the head of the center, Bilal Raad.
The center was completely destroyed as a result of the strike.
The Ministry of Health’s Response
In a statement released on X (previously Twitter), the Ministry of Public Health reiterated “its condemnation of this barbaric attack on a Lebanese state-run health center, noting that it is the second Israeli attack on a health emergency facility in less than two hours.”
“It is the minimum duty of the international community to put an end to these serious violations that threaten human values with extinction in the face of the ongoing violence without any deterrent,” the statement added.
Beforehand, an Israeli raid on the village of Arab Salim killed six individuals, including four paramedics. The raid targeted a new point of the Health Authority Association – Civil Defense.
Following the statement, the ministry said that it “will not tire of denouncing the crimes of the Israeli enemy against health workers and health facilities, stressing the responsibility of the international community to put an end to war crimes, the number of which is increasing with the continuation of the aggression.”
Continued Harm and Destruction
Yesterday evening, the Public Health Emergency Operation Center of the Ministry released its daily report on the impacts of Israeli aggressions.
The report was released at 6:45 PM on X, before the two attacks on the centers in Arab Salim and Duris. It had stated that the total number of health sector workers killed is 192, with 308 others injured.
Cumulatively, the report stated that since the beginning of the Israeli aggressions on Lebanon, 3,386 individuals have been killed and 14,417 others have been wounded.
A large portion of such deaths are from civilians. In addition to health workers, more than 200 children have been killed, as well as hundreds of women.
The government estimates that 1.5 million people have been displaced, with more than 580,000 forced to flee into Syria.
Attacks on Healthcare Industry
Since October of last year, Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks on Lebanon’s healthcare system, including personnel and facilities alike.
The breakout of all-out war in mid-September has focsed five hospitals in south Lebanon to go completely out of service, in addition to two in Beirut’s southern suburbs, and one in Bekaa.
In October, the Israeli military claimed that Hezbollah ex-Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah was storing “millions of dollars in a bunker hidden underneath the Sahel General Hospital”, mimicking the same pattern of manufacturing consent for targetting hospitals in Gaza.
In anticipation of a potential attack, the hospital was evacuated and has since then been unoperational.
Israel has also actively thwarted the retrieval of bodies of healthcare personnel that Israeli strikes have killed.
Health Minister Firass Abiad addressed this topic in October, when he said that authorities were unable to retrieve the bodies of eight rescuers killed in attacks on their three ambulances near border villages.
“Justice cannot be selective, and impunity leads to more future violations.”