Politics Lebanon: 100 rescue workers killed by Israeli attacks
According to official figures, more than 100 rescue workers have been killed and over 220 injured by Israeli attacks in Lebanon. This was stated by Acting Health Minister Firass Abiad, without giving a time frame for these figures.
03.10.2024, 20:48
SDA
In the past three days alone, more than 40 rescue workers and firefighters have been killed, Abiad said. The attacks had hit nine hospitals, 45 other medical facilities and almost 130 ambulances and fire department vehicles.
The UN said 28 health workers had been killed in the past 24 hours. Most of them were killed while trying to help injured civilians, said WHO representative Abdinasir Abubakar in a video broadcast from Lebanon. He referred to data from the Lebanese Ministry of Health, which is constantly being verified by the WHO.
Lebanon's acting health minister Abiad said: "This is a violation of international law and agreements." The attacks were "undoubtedly war crimes". The claim that weapons were being transported in the vehicles of the emergency services and fire department were "old excuses and lies that we have heard before in Gaza". Despite the many fatalities in Lebanon, there are no efforts to protect paramedics.
WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva that many health workers were on the run. This considerably limits the capacity to treat the masses of injured people. According to the UN organization, a planned large WHO aid delivery to Lebanon cannot be carried out on Friday because there are hardly any airlines flying to Beirut.
Tedros called for a de-escalation of regional conflicts, including between Iran and Israel. "Peace is the best medicine," he said.
