Fears of a major escalation on the Lebanon border with Israel continued to grow this afternoon, as Israel carried out a new round of deadly attacks against border communities, killing at least nine more people.
The first strikes were against the border village of Tair Harfa, killing five. The identities of those killed aren’t certain, although Hezbollah said two of its paramedics were killed in Tair Harfa. The attack that killed the Hezbollah paramedics was reportedly against a vehicle for the Islamic Health Organization.
That wasn’t the end to attacks on paramedics, as Israel followed up with attacks on the border town of Naqoura, hitting a group of paramedics near a cafeteria, and killing at least four and wounding six others. Between these and the overnight strike in Hebbariye which killed seven paramedics, the death toll simply for medical rescue workers is in excess of a dozen.
The Israeli attacks were presented as retaliation for a rocket attack by Hezbollah earlier in the day, which killed one Israeli-Druze and wounded two others. Those rockets were themselves retaliation for the Hebbariye strike on the civilian paramedics.
Israel still hasn’t discussed the killing of paramedics in either case, presenting the first strike as the killing of a “significant terrorist” and his associates in a “military building.” Locals confirmed the building in question was host to paramedics, a civilian target.
Throughout the past six months of tit-for-tat strikes between Lebanon and Israel, paramedics and other medical workers have often found themselves a target, and today’s actions suggests that it is only getting worse.
Ongoing efforts are being made to negotiate a border settlement that would preclude an Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Today’s killings are a big setback to that, and if war is to be avoided, nations must redouble their efforts.
“Freedom and Democracy” raining on Lebanon everyday.
Isra…who?…
While Israel rains down death on its neighbors, all the “result” of the misrepresented and lied-about October 7, it and its “allies” keep using the word “terrorists” to describe its enemies. The only REAL terrorist in all this has been Israel, for the past SEVENTY PLUS YEARS to be exact! Usually, the parties throwing around the terrorist label ARE the terrorists!
multiple attacks on paramedics.
i guess they ran out of actual hospitals to attack.
Medics are protected under the Geneva Conventions. Attacking them or the wounded they are treating is a war crime. It is one of the most serious war crimes, because every nation needs medical care for its soldiers.
Soldiers who have done that have been executed for this war crime. Otherwise, it is a long imprisonment.