Israeli Regime Bombs Hospital in South Lebanon, Injures Staff

By Al Mayadeen English

Israeli occupation forces directly shelled the Salah Ghandour Hospital in Bint Jbeil in direct violation of international law.

Israeli occupation forces fired artillery shells at the Salah Ghandour Hospital in the city of Bint Jbeil, southern Lebanon on Friday, resulting in casualties among healthcare workers Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported. 

In detail, Red Cross emergency workers attempted to transfer the wounded from the hospital, however, Israeli occupation forces refused to guarantee the safety of ambulances. The decision to do so was communicated via the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL), which said that the Israeli military command said that the hospital was an "unsafe combat zone."

Nine of the 15 healthcare workers operating in the hospital were critically injured and Israeli occupation forces only okayed the transfer of five individuals to hospitals in Saida. 

Medical workers evacuated their fallen co-workers using their personal cars and transferred the remaining casualties to the Tebinne Governmental Hospital, along with residents in the area. 

The Islamic Health Society, one of Lebanon's leading non-governmental organizations dedicated to health and emergency services, said that seven of its paramedics operating in Marjiyoun Governmental Hospital were martyred in an Israeli aggression. This includes martyrs, Mohammad Jaafar Hreish, Jaafar Dawi, Hussein Suweid, Mohammad Hasan, Abbas Tarraf, Ali Gharib, and Ali Munther. 

The Society's centers in Shaqra and Khirbet Selem were also targeted on Friday, where paramedics, Mu'in Tamim, Mustafa Ali Dib, Abbas Ftouni, and Hamza al-Tawil, were martyred. 

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Order of Physicians in Beirut issued an urgent appeal to the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and "anyone capable of ending the Israeli massacres against Lebanon's medical sector and ambulance teams."

In its statement, the Order emphasized that "this ongoing aggression on the medical sector and ambulance teams... blatantly violates the United Nations charters and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, particularly concerning the right to healthcare," as well as the Geneva Convention.

They stressed the need for immediate intervention to halt these criminal acts against the wounded and healthcare workers, affirming being "resolutely committed to our humanitarian mission, regardless of the cost."

The Order also expressed deep regret that "three hospitals have been forced to shut down their service due to Israeli aggression," referring to Marjayoun Hospital in South Lebanon, Sainte Therese Hospital near Beirut’s Southern Suburb, and Salah Ghandour Hospital in South Lebanon.