Israel attacks on Lebanon health facilities “deeply disturbing”: UK

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has called reports of Israeli strikes on health facilities and support personnel in Lebanon “deeply disturbing” in a post on X.

Lammy also urged an “immediate ceasefire on both sides so Israeli and Lebanese civilians can return home”.

On Thursday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that 37 health facilities had been forced to close in southern Lebanon and at least 28 health care workers had been killed in the previous 24 hours alone.

The health ministry on Thursday said 40 paramedics, firefighters and health care workers had been killed in Israeli raids over three days, making it even more challenging to care for people wounded in the intense fighting.

On Friday, the Marjayoun Governmental Hospital near the Israel-Lebanon border was evacuated after an Israeli strike hit the area outside its main entrance, killing seven people, the facility’s director, Dr. Mones Kalakish, told CNN.

The Israeli military carried out a strike in the vicinity of the Martyr Salah Ghandour Hospital in Bint Jbeil on Friday, the National News Agency of Lebanon reported. The air raid hit a mosque adjacent to the hospital.

Nine medical staff were injured and the hospital was evacuated, according to state media.

The health ministry in Lebanon has announced that more than 100 health workers have been killed in the year since the war in the Gaza Strip began and since Israel and Hezbollah stepped up exchanges of fire along the border.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 41,800 people, most of them women and children, following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

Over 2,000 people have been killed and over 9,500 wounded in Lebanon in almost a year of cross-border fighting, with most of the deaths occurring in the past weeks.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.

› Subscribe

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

More Articles