Israeli forces have killed more than 2,011 individuals and injured 9,353 others since October 8, 2023. Among those killed are 127 children and 261 women amid a widespread targeting of civilians and residential areas.
Israeli forces have killed 104 health workers (doctors, nurses and paramedics) and wounded 188 others. In addition, they have also damaged or destroyed 45 health facilities and 128 ambulances. As of yesterday, 37 primary health centers have been closed and 10 hospitals were damaged.
To their own admission, Israeli authorities have started deliberately targeting health workers and emergency crews. Last week, they started bombing first-aid hospitals and Trauma Stabilisation Points. Two days ago, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) reported the targeting of members, vehicles and centers of the Red Cross, the Civil Defense, the Islamic Message Scouts, the Islamic Health Authority and the Lebanese Ambulance Authority.
Minister of Health, Firass Abiad, also noted that Israeli attacks targeted ambulance crews heading to transport wounded individuals, despite coordination with the Red Cross.
The Same Narrative Used in Gaza
Israeli army spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, claimed that Hezbollah is using rescue vehicles to transport terrorist and combat instruments. Moreover, Adraee claimed that Hezbollah is using ambulances belonging to the Islamic Health Authority for terrorist purposes.
Lebanese Minister of Health, Firas Abiad, warned of the danger of what is happening and said that the claim that there are weapons in cars and hospitals is a weak and false argument that has been repeated in Gaza and which the media can verify.
Indeed, Israeli forces have repeatedly bombed hospitals, shelter centers and other areas in Gaza and Lebanon with massive disregard or intentional harm to civilian lives. The Israeli army has repeatedly targeted health centers where hundreds or thousands of people were sheltering, often escaping areas that the Israeli army told them to evacuate.
“Who gave Israel the right to be both the judge and the executioner??” Asked Abiad. “We know the barbarity of the enemy and the international community must assume its responsibilities.”
Continued Death and Destruction
The Israeli aggression has so far led to the displacement of over 1.2 million individuals according to government estimates. So far, 892 collective shelters have been identified, with 677 reported to be at maximum capacity.
In addition, the General Security has reported that 256,614 Syrian and 82,264 Lebanese individuals have crossed into Syria.
Many of those displaced remain without adequate access to basic needs and services. Among those, many Syrian refugees and migrant workers from low-income countries remain discriminated against, at times refused entry to shelters and at others kicked out from public spaces.
Israeli air raids have only expanded with time, especially since the series of offensives that started September 23. Raids have targeted densely populated areas and busy neighborhoods, causing heavy civilian death and residential destruction.
The scope of the strikes has also expanded, not being limited to the South, the Bekaa and Beirut’s Southern Suburbs (where strikes have destroyed dense neighborhoods and residential areas and made entire towns unlivable), and reaching areas as far as Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli.
With Israeli authorities’ continued undermining of a ceasefire deal and amid ongoing impunity, facilitated and in some cases supported by international actors and the lack of adequate interventions, the Israeli army is expected to continue causing massive violence in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and the wider region.