The United Nations says it is “deeply disturbed” by attacks on healthcare facilities, a day after Israeli warplanes bombed southern Lebanon killing 10 emergency rescue workers. “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.
The UN official was referring to an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday that targeted an emergency and relief center in the southern village of Habbariyeh. “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 said. “Attacks on health care violate international humanitarian law and are unacceptable,” the UN official said in a statement.
The Israeli regime has been launching airstrikes against Lebanon since the beginning of its onslaught on the Gaza Strip in early October. Israel’s raids have resulted in retaliatory strikes from Hezbollah in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah launched a barrage of at least 30 retaliatory rockets at an Israeli military barracks in the northern part of the 1948 Israeli-occupied territories in response to the Habbariyeh airstrike. Lebanon’s al-Manar television said the group struck the outpost inside Kiryat Shmona city with dozens of projectiles on Wednesday morning.
The rockets struck the Command Center of the Israeli military’s 769th Brigade in the Kiryat Shmona Barracks, it said.
At least 322 people, including 56 civilians, have been killed by Israeli missiles on the Lebanese border. Israel says at least ten of its troopers and seven settlers have been killed in the area. Hezbollah has already fought off two Israeli wars against Lebanon in 2000 and 2006. The resistance forced the regime to retreat in both conflicts.
