BEIRUT — More than 50 medical workers have been killed in Lebanon during the current round of fighting with Israel, according to the Lebanese government, which says at least 54 health workers are among more than 1,400 people killed. The deaths have prompted allegations from Lebanese officials and human rights groups that first responders and health facilities are being deliberately targeted — charges Israel denies.
One of the recent victims was Youssef Assaf, a volunteer paramedic with the Lebanese Red Cross, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike on March 9 while responding to an earlier strike in Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon. Assaf’s funeral in Tyre drew hundreds of first responders in uniform. Red Cross emergency director Alexy Nehme says the organization followed its routine protocol of sending ambulance coordinates to U.N. peacekeepers, who then notify Israel. After Assaf was killed, Nehme said he lodged a complaint through that mechanism: “Why? Why us?” He says he received no reply.
The Israeli military told NPR it struck a “Hezbollah military-use building” at the site and that some people arrived in the seconds between when the munitions were fired and impact, but that Red Cross personnel were not intentionally targeted and Israeli forces “were unaware of the presence of Red Cross personnel in the area.” Israel says it abides by the laws of war but that legal protections for health workers can be revoked if there is “misuse” — accusing Hezbollah of exploiting medical teams and civilian infrastructure, including allegedly transporting weapons in ambulances.
Observers say the pattern is worrying. Former Lebanese health minister Dr. Firass Abiad told NPR, “It’s very clear that there is targeting of healthcare personnel, first responders and healthcare facilities,” adding that when 10 first responders are killed within about 24 hours “it’s very difficult to say this is an accident.” The Lebanese government and the World Health Organization reported that on March 28-29 ten health workers were killed in a 24-hour period; Lebanon’s current health minister, Rakan Nassereddine, said he has opened the process of preparing a legal file to take to the U.N. Security Council.
Human Rights Watch cautions it’s early to draw final conclusions about every incident but notes that Israel has intentionally struck health workers in past conflicts. HRW researcher Ramzi Kaiss pointed to investigations in Gaza and Lebanon that documented attacks on paramedics, ambulances and hospitals, and said those attacks “amount to apparent war crimes” when there is no evidence of military use. Amnesty International has accused Israel of using a “same deadly playbook” to carry out unlawful attacks on health facilities and workers without accountability. World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged that “attacks on health facilities must cease immediately,” warning such attacks must not become the norm.
Part of the issue, aid and medical actors say, is the role of armed groups’ own ambulance services. The majority of first responders killed recently have belonged to services run by Islamic political groups, including Hezbollah, which operates its own ambulance network and does not notify Israel of movements in the way the Red Cross does. Mohammed Farhat, operations director for the Islamic Health Authority that includes Hezbollah’s ambulance service, described what he called “double-tap” patterns: an initial strike on a target followed by a second strike after first responders arrive. He said his teams have adapted their procedures to reduce risk — sending fewer people initially to assess scenes — and denied allegations that they transport weapons.
At the Lebanese Red Cross dispatch center in southern Beirut, staff handle roughly 1,500 calls a day. Lead dispatcher George Ghafary described staying on the line with callers until ambulances arrive, and tracking teams by GPS and radio once they are sent out. The work, he said, is emotionally heavy: “These are my colleagues, my friends,” and while he tries not to show his worry, “deep down, it’s there.” As medics continue to answer distress calls under fire, dispatchers cling to the hope that teams’ radios and phones won’t fall silent.