Israel’s strike on a medical centre in southern Lebanon on Friday night killed 12 health‑care workers, raising the total number of medical staff killed by Israel in the country to 31 in the past twelve days.
A primary‑care clinic in the town of Burj Qalaouiyah was hit late on Friday, igniting a fire that caused the building to collapse onto the personnel inside. The attack killed doctors, paramedics and nurses on duty, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said, adding that it “violated all international humanitarian laws” in a statement.
Human‑rights organisations maintain that any assault on medical workers constitutes a war crime, irrespective of political affiliation.
Speaking about the deaths of the 12 medical workers and the two paramedics killed earlier that day in an attack on a health facility in Al Sowana, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “The killings in the last 24 hours of 14 health workers in southern Lebanon mark a tragic development in the escalating Middle East crisis.”
Lebanese authorities say Israel has launched at least 37 attacks on health‑care workers and facilities in Lebanon, including strikes on the state civil‑defence service and the Lebanese Red Cross, since the current hostilities began.
The conflict in Lebanon erupted on 2 March after Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets at Israel, prompting a rapid Israeli bombing campaign across the country. Fighting has since intensified, with Hezbollah continuing its rocket fire and Israeli troops moving into south Lebanon.
According to the Ministry of Health, Israeli strikes have killed at least 826 people in Lebanon and displaced roughly one million.
On Saturday morning, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee accused Hezbollah of employing ambulances and medical sites for military purposes, warning that Israeli forces would “act in accordance with international law” if the militia did not cease. No verifiable evidence was offered for the allegation.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health rejected the Israeli claim that ambulances were being used for military ends, calling it “nothing more than a justification for the crimes it is committing against humanity” in a statement.
During the 13‑month Israel‑Hezbollah war of 2024, Israel similarly accused Hezbollah of misusing ambulances, again without credible proof, and killed 408 health‑care workers.
A UN commission of inquiry has labeled Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s health facilities as war crimes in the two‑year conflict there. In 2024, a senior prosecutor at the International Criminal Court said that assertions of Hamas fighters operating inside Gaza hospitals under Israeli siege were “grossly exaggerated.” Gaza’s health system has been largely devastated by sustained Israeli bombardment.
Humanitarian organisations have warned that the Israeli military’s allegation that Hezbollah is using health centres is a pretext that endangers civilians and medical staff.
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