Getty ImagesAt least four hospitals in Lebanon announced, on Friday, the suspension of their work due to the Israeli raids, while a Hezbollah health organization said that 11 paramedics were killed during the past 24 hours.
The four closures were the culmination of two weeks of Israeli strikes on hospitals and health care workers in Lebanon, which closed at least 37 facilities and killed dozens of medical staff, according to the World Health Organization.
Late Friday night, the Israeli military issued a statement claiming that Hezbollah was using medical vehicles to transport fighters and weapons, warning that it would strike any vehicle suspected of being used for military purposes.
Hospital staff in southern Lebanon told the BBC that health facilities treating wounded civilians had been subjected to direct Israeli bombing. The BBC has contacted the Israeli army for comment.
Dr. Moanes Qalakish, director of Marjayoun Governmental Hospital in southern Lebanon, told the BBC that the hospital had no choice but to close its doors on Friday after an airstrike hit two ambulances at the entrance to the hospital on Friday, killing seven medics.
“The nurses and doctors were terrified,” he said. “We tried to calm them down and continue working, but that was not possible.”
The hospital’s emergency director, Dr. Shoshana Mazraani, said she was sitting at the front of the building when the strike occurred. She said that she heard the screams of the paramedics who were injured and ran toward the damaged ambulances, but her colleagues warned her not to stay for fear of another raid.
Dr. Mazraani said that Marjayoun Hospital was already hanging by a thread, with a core team of only 20 doctors remaining out of the center’s usual staff of 120 employees. She said Friday’s closure was a “tragedy for the area.”
“We serve a large population here, many villages. We had 45 inpatient beds, and they are all empty now. We were the only hospital with dialysis in the area, for example. We had to turn away emergency patients and ask others to leave.” .
Rita Suleiman, director of nursing at Saint Therese Hospital, located on the outskirts of Beirut’s southern suburbs, told the BBC that the hospital also suffered after being severely damaged in Friday’s raid, but was later forced to suspend all services.
Other hospitals were continuing to provide very limited services. Dr. Mohamed Hamada, director of Tibnin Hospital, told the BBC on Friday that a nearby strike shook the building.
He added: “The explosion was very close.” “We are still trying to perform surgeries but we cannot leave the confines of the hospital because the situation is too dangerous.”
Getty ImagesLate on Friday night, Salah Ghandour Hospital in Bint Jbeil announced its closure after being subjected to heavy bombardment, following an order from the Israeli army to evacuate it.
The Israeli army said it targeted a mosque adjacent to the hospital that it claimed was being used by Hezbollah fighters.
The strikes on health care facilities were not limited to southern Lebanon. Israel bombed a medical center in central Beirut on Thursday affiliated with the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Organization, killing nine and wounding 14 others. The Israeli army said that the raid targeted “terrorist assets.”
The Lebanese Red Cross said on Thursday that four of its paramedics were injured in a bombing that targeted a patient evacuation convoy, despite the organization’s coordination with the Israeli army.
Gabriel Carlson, country director for the British Red Cross in Beirut, told the BBC: “Health and relief workers must be able to help people in need without fearing for their safety. Red Cross and Red Crescent teams are a lifeline, tirelessly supporting communities – they must “Protect her.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday that 28 healthcare workers had been killed in Lebanon in the past 24 hours, and that many other healthcare staff had not returned to work due to strikes.
Dr. Kalkish, director of Marjayoun Hospital, told the BBC that before the raid that closed the hospital, the hospital was already operating without an anesthetist or other specialists.
He added that some employees fled the bombing for their safety, while others were prevented from reaching the hospital due to air strikes on nearby roads.
Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abyad said on Thursday that 97 rescue workers have been killed since Hezbollah and Israel began fighting last October.
More than 40 of those — paramedics and firefighters — were in just three days over the past week, he said.
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