UN 'deeply disturbed' by strikes on Lebanon rescue workers

People inspect destruction at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in Habariyeh near the Israeli border. — AFP

The United Nations on Thursday said it was “deeply disturbed” by attacks on healthcare facilities, a day after several strikes blamed on Israel killed 10 emergency rescue workers in southern Lebanon.

“The tragic events of the past 36 hours have resulted in a significant loss of life and injuries in south Lebanon. Up to 11 civilians were killed in a single day, including 10 paramedics,” said Imran Riza, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon.

There has been near-daily cross-border fire between Lebanon’s Hezbollah, an ally of Palestinian militant group Hamas, and Israel since Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, triggering war in Gaza.

Lebanese groups say three separate Israeli strikes on Wednesday, including on a health centre in the border village of Habariyeh, killed the 11 civilians.

“I am deeply disturbed by the repeated attacks on health facilities and health workers who risk their lives to provide urgent assistance to their local communities,” Riza added.

“Attacks on healthcare violate international humanitarian law and are unacceptable,” the UN official said in a statement.

Several militant groups in Lebanon operate health centres and emergency response operations.

Hezbollah said four of its fighters and two rescuers were killed in Wednesday’s strikes, while its ally the Amal movement said it had lost two members, including a rescuer.

An official from the Jamaa Islamiya militant group had earlier told AFP that “seven rescuers” were killed in Israeli strikes on the emergency centre in Habariyeh.

The Israeli military said the target of one of the strikes was “a military compound” and those killed were Jamaa Islamiya militants.

It said a “significant terrorist operative” and other members of the group were planning attacks against Israel at the time of the strike.

Hezbollah responded to the deadly strikes by sending a barrage of rockets into northern Israel, killing one civilian in Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday.

The group on Thursday said they targeted the northern Israeli town of Shlomi and agricultural village of Goren in retaliation for the previous day’s attacks.

The uptick in violence has raised fears of a broader escalation in the conflict.

At least 346 people have been killed in Lebanon — mostly Hezbollah fighters, but also including at least 68 civilians — in clashes with Israel over the last six months, according to an AFP tally.

The fighting has also displaced tens of thousands of people in southern Lebanon and in northern Israel, where the military says 10 soldiers and eight civilians have been killed.