WHO says 28 health workers killed in Lebanon over 24 hours
The World Health Organization chief says that 28 healthcare workers have been killed over the past 24 hours in Lebanon, where Israel has launched air strikes and sent troops to fight Hezbollah in an escalating conflict.
“Many [other] health workers are not reporting to duty and fled the areas where they work due to bombardments,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an online press briefing.
“This is severely limiting the provision of mass trauma management and continuity of health services,” he said.
The global health agency will not be able to deliver a large planned shipment of trauma and medical supplies to Lebanon on Friday due to flight restrictions, he added.
Recsue teams are seen in front of damaged buildings after an Israeli airstrike on Beirut
Israel ‘broadening’ Lebanon attacks
The strike on Bashoura district happened early this morning, about 1km away from the country’s parliament, here in the capital. This is an area in the heart of Beirut.
According to the Israeli army, its forces targeted a medical facility that was affiliated with Hezbollah. In this attack, at least nine paramedics were killed and 14 wounded.
We were at the site earlier today – there was absolute chaos and destruction. With this strike, Israel is showing yet again that it is going after targets that they say are affiliated with Hezbollah – no longer just actual Hezbollah targeted but anything that is affiliated with this organisation.
Also, earlier today, there was another air strike that took place in the village of Kayfoun in the area of Aley in Mount Lebanon – that’s about 20km (12.4 miles) southeast of Beirut – targeting the transmission tower for Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV.
So they’re going not only after the assets, weapons and infrastructure of Hezbollah’s military wing, but also all other aspects of this group’s infrastructure, including paramedics and media offices.
They are broadening out the attacks that they’ve been carrying out to further weaken Hezbollah, not only from a military point of view.
Same 'strategy' as in Gaza. Next Israel will be targeting UNWRA as well in Lebanon. They already hit the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon a few days ago.
More from Hezbollah
An Israeli infantry force has “attempted to infiltrate towards the cemetery of the town of Yaroun” in southern Lebanon when Hezbollah fighters detonated a Sejjil bomb at the advancing force, the Lebanese armed group says, claiming the attack caused casualties.
Hezbollah also said its guided missile hit a Merkava tank in the northern Israeli settlement of Netua, and a rocket salvo targeted Israeli soldiers in the al-Thaghra area on the outskirts of the town of Odaisseh on the Lebanese-Palestinian border.
Later, the group claimed to have targeted the Israeli Sakhnin military base in the Haifa Bay, formerly Bay of Acre, with a missile salvo.
Also, Hezbollah said four explosive devices were detonated by its fighters since dawn against the Israeli troops infiltrating the towns of Maroun al-Ras and Yaroun, “inflicting heavy losses on the enemy forces”.
