The armed struggle between Israel and Hezbollah has had spiraling proportions with Israeli aerial raids targeting key health services and emergency response teams throughout southern Lebanon. The Islamic Health Society, operating various emergency services, hospitals, and clinics, has borne the brunt of the aerial attacks. Bilal Assaf, a media relations official at IHS Civil Defence, reports more than 85 IHS staff members killed and over 150 wounded.
Israeli forces bombed the Baraachit Emergency
Centre in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil region, killing 10 firefighters who belonged to IHS Civil Defence. The attack has been increasingly focused on humanitarian services. The Lebanese Health Ministry described the strike as a “massacre.” These attacks have begun to disrupt health services in the area by increasing the number of attacks.
IHS staff continues to provide medical services and assistance to internally displaced people from Israeli airstrikes at the same time as working in support of, but not in control of, Lebanon’s Ministry of Health. Similar scenes are playing out in Gaza, where an ongoing UN commission concluded that Israel has targeted systematically the country’s healthcare infrastructure as part of a deliberate strategy. Among the casualties have been medics and emergency workers in both regions-a factor that deepens the humanitarian crisis.
Despite the losses,
IHS continued its operations with all fervor. “We will serve them till our last breath,” said Ali Freidi, head of IHS medical centers. Volunteers such as schoolteacher Batoul Hammoud do not only provide medical assistance but also see to offering psych support to the different displaced families, especially the children.
Israel has defended its actions, arguing that Hezbollah is using medical facilities to transport weapons and fighters. The Israeli military claims its strikes on IHS centers are “intelligence-based” and target Hezbollah’s exploitation of civilian infrastructure. Yet both the EU and the World Health Organization have rebuked these attacks as violations of international humanitarian law.
The chaos has badly damaged Lebanon’s emergency aid infrastructure, and additional assault points on health infrastructure could make the humanitarian disaster even worse. Volunteers and medical staff are unflappable against sustained attacks on a massive scale by Israel. “We will keep going, we will care for every patient,” one volunteer said, shaking her head as she spoke. “No attack is bigger than a person’s hope.”.