Lebanon hit by deadly Israeli airstrikes; hospitals overwhelmed amid new threats to ambulances

With Lebanon still reeling from Israel’s devastating airstrikes on 8 April, UN humanitarians reported new fears of attacks on ambulances and looming food shortages in the south of the country on Friday. Speaking from Beirut, where he witnessed Wednesday’s attacks first-hand, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s representative in the country Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, said that according to the latest figures from Lebanon’s Ministry of Health some 300 people were killed in the strikes – one of the highest single-day death tolls since the renewal of full-scale hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants on 2 March. A further 1,150 were injured. “Many more people actually are still missing,” Dr Abubakar told reporters in Geneva. “They're believed to be under the rubble.” Many body parts are also waiting to be identified, he said. The UN health agency official also spoke of a warning received from Israel on Friday morning that “ambulances will be attacked as well.” He said that Israel had been warning about “the use of ambulances by Hezbollah”. WHO has insisted that while healthcare should not be militarised, misuse of health facilities or ambulances does not justify attacking them. “The healthcare workers, the facilities, the ambulances are all protected under international humanitarian law,” the senior medic said. “Unless we have these services available, we will not be able to save lives.” On Thursday WHO also received a warning that Israeli evacuation orders have been expanded in the Jneh area of Beirut which includes “two major hospitals that are managing the mass casualty [event], Rafik Hariri and Al Zahara hospital.” The facilities are currently operating at full capacity. Abubakar stressed the impossibility of potentially having to move the 450 patients, including some 50 in intensive care after having sustained injuries in Wednesday’s bombing, out of the health facilities. “We have decided not to evacuate because we don't have any other place to evacuate them [to], actually,” he said. The UN health agency official added that overnight “we received some feedback saying that these hospitals will not be attacked…whether that will materialize or not we will see.” Amid the surge in emergency cases, the WHO official noted that even before Wednesday’s mass casualty event the country did not have enough medical supplies to last even one month. The 8 April airstrikes took place just hours after a ceasefire was announced between the United States and Iran. Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have continued, while according to media reports Iran said on Friday that it would not take part in peace talks planned for Saturday in Pakistan if the ceasefire was not extended to Lebanon. UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Eujin Byun said that families who had already fled earlier hostilities in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon – some of whom had begun contemplating returns after mixed signals about a ceasefire – were now once again uprooted. Areas previously considered safe were struck on Wednesday, she said, “triggering panic and forcing people to flee for the second or third time.” Ms.

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