Health ministry condemns Israeli attack on medical facility in south Lebanon

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health condemned the Israeli airstrike that targeted a facility belonging to Islamic Health Association, Hezbollah's medical organization, in the southern Lebanese town of Adaisseh, Marjayoun district on Monday afternoon. The strike resulted in "the martyrdom of three medics and the injury of two others,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.

The association announced on Monday evening the deaths of three of its members: Hussein Ibrahim, born in 1970 and originally from Adaisseh, and Ali Souaidane and Abbas Hojeir, born in 1962 and 1993 respectively and both originally from Adsheet, in Nabatieh district.

The organization pointed out that the Israeli attack was "the third of its kind on Civil Defense centers since the start of this war." On Jan. 11, an Israeli attack on a center in Hanine killed two first responders and on Feb. 22, an attack killed another two rescue workers.

In its statement, the health ministry said that it will not "turn a blind eye" to the Israeli army's “persistence in repeating attacks on healthcare centers [and] ... these crimes committed by the occupying forces since the beginning of their aggression in the South."

According to the statement, there have been seven killed and ten wounded within the Islamic Health Association and the Islamic Mission Scouts, affiliated with the Amal Movement, since cross-border fighting began. Seventeen ambulances have been destroyed or damaged by the fighting.

The Lebanese Health Ministry declared that these attacks violate international laws, notably the Geneva Convention, which emphasizes the necessity of protecting healthcare centers and medical personnel, allowing them to carry out their humanitarian duties unhindered.

As of Monday evening, the total number of Hezbollah members killed in Lebanon and Syria since cross-border fighting began on Oct. 8 is 232, according to our count.