Diagrams illustrate how Israel has targeted Lebanon’s health care system
The Israeli force is constantly attacking hospitals and medical staff in Lebanon. According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, Israel has killed at least 208 health workers and hurt 311 others as of November 15.
In addition, the minister said that Israel had attacked at least 286 medical services, with 66 attacks on hospitals and 220 attacks on emergency medical services. This has resulted in damage to 40 hospitals, eight of which are no longer operational, and 249 rescue cars. Human rights groups say this could be a war crime.
Israel attacked a civil defense center in the eastern Baalbek area of Lebanon from the air on Thursday, killing at least 12 doctors. The attacks have forced the closure of medical centers. In this country, the privatized healthcare system was already in dire shape because of the current economic crisis.
The health system has been struggling to meet the needs of a growing number of people due to a shortage of staff and resources. Supplies are running low, and workers are tired.
As of October 2018, Israel and Hezbollah were at war, and since then, Israel has killed at least 3,452 people and hurt more than 14,664. Most of Israel’s 66 hospital strikes in Lebanon have occurred in the southwest, west, and Beirut. Israel has repeatedly targeted certain hospitals.
The Health Ministry said on October 24 that at least eight hospitals had to close. Half of those were in the Baabda area in western Lebanon. Seven other hospitals are only partly working. Another point to consider is that Israeli troops have attacked basic healthcare centers at least 25 times, leading to the closure of 58 of them.
The Lebanese Health Ministry says that Israel has attacked emergency medical workers more than 220 times. It has also struck 249 fire trucks, ambulances, and other aid vehicles. Israel has said that Hezbollah is using ambulances to move weapons without showing any proof. International law protects hospitals and other medical centers because they are civilian sites.
Human Rights Watch found evidence of three attacks on medical sites last month that looked like they were war crimes. On October 3, Israeli troops attacked an ambulance in southern Lebanon. The next day, they struck a hospital and killed 14 doctors. The Lebanese Health Ministry says that on October 22, Israel had a strike near a hospital in southern Beirut that killed 13 people. According to the ministry, the attack overnight near Rafik Hariri University Hospital, Lebanon’s main state hospital and just a few kilometers from the city center, also injured 57 people.