An Israeli airstrike on first responders in south Lebanon has killed five paramedics and two hospitals are ceasing operations due to the intensity of attacks.
The head of the Marjayoun government hospital, Mounes Kalakesh, told The Associated Press that five paramedics were killed and seven were wounded in the drone strike Friday near the hospital.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reports that the staff of the hospital in Marjayoun were evacuated leaving the medical center out of service. A state-run hospital in the border village of Mays al-Jabal has also said it is ceasing activities, after staff were evacuated and because of a lack of fuel, medicine and electricity.
An Israeli strike earlier on Friday killed a rescuer at the site of an overnight air raid in south Beirut.
After massive Israeli strikes overnight in Dahieh, "Israeli aircraft targeted civil defense teams who were working to remove the rubble and rescue the wounded, leading to the death of a civil defense member," the group said. A source close to Hezbollah earlier told AFP the strike was carried out with a drone.
Hezbollah accused Israel of deliberately targeting civil defense teams.
- 28 health workers killed in one day -
The World Health Organization says 28 health workers in Lebanon have been killed in the past day, and it called for a ceasefire.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described a dire situation in treating casualties, with three dozen health facilities closed in southern Lebanon and five hospitals either partly or fully evacuated in Beirut.