Israel has killed 56 emergency workers since expanding its war on Lebanon, with the claim that it wants to weaken Hezbollah . The latest incident saw two medics killed in an Israeli strike in the southern district of Bint Jibeil on Monday. A third was seriously injured. "When you look at the health care personnel who have been killed, they have been killed in a very brazen way," said Firas Abiad, the former Minister of Health in Lebanon. "Some were in their ambulances with their insignia, and others were killed while trying to aid people. It's very clear that this is being done deliberately," he added. Israel's systematic attacks on hospitals and emergency workers are overwhelming the health care sector and pushing more people to flee their towns and homes. Experts and doctors believe the attacks are part of a broader policy to make most of southern Lebanon unlivable and ethnically cleanse the region. Six hospitals—some in southern Beirut— have so far been shuttered . And while the health system has averted a collapse due to the dedication of medical workers who refuse to leave their posts, the attacks are putting significant strain on facilities across the country. "The health sector has shown a lot of resilience," said Abiad. "But I don't know when or if it will crumble [from these attacks]. What's important is to try and keep the sector going for as long as it can." Under pressure The closure of hospitals has pushed the crisis onto the facilities still operating. On 5 April, Israel struck a crowded street in Jnah, a neighbourhood in the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital of Beirut. Footage of the incident showed a mound of rubble and debris in the area after an entire building collapsed from the attack. The strike killed four people, including a 15-year-old girl and two Sudanese nationals, according to hospital staff. They were pronounced dead after arriving at the nearby Rafik Hariri Hospital, along with scores of people injured from the blast. Many of the wounded required urgent surgery and intensive care. "The hospital here will be able to bear the rising number of patients coming to us," said Radwan Hassan, the deputy director of security at Rafik Hariri Hospital.
He added that hospital staff have been preparing for months to respond to the current crisis. After the previous escalation between Hezbollah and Israel in November 2024—Israel continued bombing south Lebanon intermittently, killing almost 400 Lebanese, while only Hezbollah ceased attacks—the hospital began bracing for another all-out conflict. They ensured they had an adequate number of intensive care units, hospital beds and surgeons in operating rooms. Still, Hassan acknowledged that the war is putting increasing pressure on hospital staff. Patients who used to get treated in facilities in nearby Beirut's southern suburbs, which Israel has heavily bombarded throughout the ongoing war, are now coming to Rafik Hariri. "There is a lot of pressure on this facility right now," he told The New Arab . "Any big strike that occurs in Beirut, then the victims are often brought to [nearby] Zahraa Hospital or to our hospital here."
Yahia Abdullah, a doctor in the hospital, added that most of his colleagues are used to the stress of treating the sick and wounded under the buzz and roar of Israeli drones and warplanes. What's more, he acknowledged that there is concern that Israel could target the hospital, as it threatened to do during the last all-out war in 2024. Back then, Israel claimed—without providing any evidence—that a Hezbollah bunker was located underneath the hospital.
Western journalists were then invited to the hospital to debunk Israel's claims. "I do have a bit of fear. Most of the hospitals around us have closed down, and perhaps one of the [patients] coming to our hospital could be a target. But it's our duty to stay here and keep working," said Abdullah. Staying behind Similar to the staff in Rafik Hariri Hospital, medics across southern Lebanon refuse to abandon what they describe as their duty to aid and rescue civilians, even after losing colleagues and loved ones. Mohamed Sleiman, a paramedic from the southern city of Nabatieh, lost his son Joud to an Israeli strike on 24 March. Joud, who was also a volunteer medic, was heading to pick up food with his friend Ali to later distribute to needy families when their motorbike was hit. A French television network captured footage of Sleiman arriving at the scene and discovering that his son was among the two people killed. He later told TNA that he doesn’t have the luxury to grieve due to the war. "Now is not the time for sadness or for regret. We have to keep working [to save lives]," he said. The humanitarian crisis is only getting worse due to Israel's tactic of forcefully displacing entire cities and towns. Recently, on 6 April, it called on inhabitants living in 40 towns around Nabatieh to flee. The number of people displaced across Lebanon has now reached 1.1 million people , according to the UN. Nabatieh city, which has a prewar population of some 150,000 people, was subjected to forced "evacuation orders" last month, practically turning it into a ghost town. Yet medics continue to stay behind to aid those too poor or sick to leave, as well as those who simply refuse to abandon their homes. "There are people around here who need us. They need to eat. They need to drink, and they need medications," Sleiman said. Abiad, the former health minister, said that the global community has to do more to restrain Israel, which enjoys total impunity to carry out war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law—the main framework governing the conduct of war. He noted that states and some multilateral bodies often shy away from condemning Israel when warning about the dire state of Lebanon's health care sector. "Israel is normalising attacks on health care everywhere," Abiad told TNA . "It's no surprise to me that [because of the precedent Israel has set] we are seeing more attacks on hospitals in places like Ukraine and Sudan."