Three successive Israeli attacks have killed at least three paramedics in southern Lebanon in one day, including one featured in a BBC report this week, Lebanese officials say, as they accuse Israel of deliberately targeting health workers in its war against Hezbollah.
A team from the Islamic Health Association was attacked as it tried to rescue people from the site of an Israeli attack in the town of Mayfadoun, in the Nabatieh region on Wednesday, according to the Lebanese health ministry. One paramedic was killed and a second remains missing.
When a second team from the Islamic Health Association headed to the site, it too was attacked, and three paramedics were wounded, the ministry said. Then, two ambulances of the Risala Scout Association and the Nabatieh Ambulance Service, which had been deployed to the site, were also attacked. Two paramedics were killed and three others wounded.
The victims included Fadel Serhan, a 43-year-old paramedic with the Risala Scout Association.
Earlier this month, the BBC spent several days with Serhan's team in Nabatieh, which has been repeatedly targeted by the Israeli military during the past six weeks of war with Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shia Muslim militia and political party. Serhan's team was operating in a tent set up outside the city's Nabih Berri Hospital after their own station in Mayfadoun was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in the first days of the war, killing one person.
Ali Nasreddine, a colleague and former classmate, had known Serhan, a father of an eight-year-old girl, for over 30 years. He was generous, ready to offer a hand to anyone. He had a very high sense of humanity and a great sense of humour, he said. 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.
The Lebanese health ministry condemned the attacks, stating that paramedics have become direct targets and that the assaults demonstrate a total disregard for international humanitarian law. Reports have indicated that more than 2,100 people have died and 7,000 others have been wounded in Lebanon since the start of the conflict on March 2, marking the deadly toll on both civilians and healthcare providers amidst the ongoing strife.
A team from the Islamic Health Association was attacked as it tried to rescue people from the site of an Israeli attack in the town of Mayfadoun, in the Nabatieh region on Wednesday, according to the Lebanese health ministry. One paramedic was killed and a second remains missing.
When a second team from the Islamic Health Association headed to the site, it too was attacked, and three paramedics were wounded, the ministry said. Then, two ambulances of the Risala Scout Association and the Nabatieh Ambulance Service, which had been deployed to the site, were also attacked. Two paramedics were killed and three others wounded.
The victims included Fadel Serhan, a 43-year-old paramedic with the Risala Scout Association.
Earlier this month, the BBC spent several days with Serhan's team in Nabatieh, which has been repeatedly targeted by the Israeli military during the past six weeks of war with Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shia Muslim militia and political party. Serhan's team was operating in a tent set up outside the city's Nabih Berri Hospital after their own station in Mayfadoun was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in the first days of the war, killing one person.
Ali Nasreddine, a colleague and former classmate, had known Serhan, a father of an eight-year-old girl, for over 30 years. He was generous, ready to offer a hand to anyone. He had a very high sense of humanity and a great sense of humour, he said. 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.
The Lebanese health ministry condemned the attacks, stating that paramedics have become direct targets and that the assaults demonstrate a total disregard for international humanitarian law. Reports have indicated that more than 2,100 people have died and 7,000 others have been wounded in Lebanon since the start of the conflict on March 2, marking the deadly toll on both civilians and healthcare providers amidst the ongoing strife.
