Israeli strike kills three Lebanese doctors, Hezbollah retaliates Reuters

Written by Laila Bassam

CAIRO – Three Lebanese paramedics were killed and two others were seriously injured, one of them was seriously injured in an Israeli attack while they were putting out a fire in the southern city of Faroun, the Ministry of Health in Lebanon said on Saturday.

“The Israeli army was targeting a team of the Lebanon Civil Defense while responding to the fire that broke out as a result of an Israeli airstrike,” the ministry said in a statement, clarifying that the strike hit a fire truck.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the Israeli attack as a violation of international law and announced an emergency meeting on Monday with Western diplomats and international organizations to address the ongoing conflict.

“So far, as a result of Israel's aggression, 25 paramedics from different ambulance teams have died, as well as two health workers, and 94 paramedics and health workers have been injured,” the health ministry said in a statement.

The health ministry also condemned the attack as an “open strike” on an official Lebanese station, marking the second such attack on an emergency team in less than 12 hours.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.

Earlier it said it had carried out several strikes on Hezbollah rockets and infrastructure in several areas in southern Lebanon, after the group fired rockets into northern Israel.

Hezbollah released a statement, saying it launched a “squadron of missiles” in response to Faroun's attack, targeting the Israeli military headquarters, which caused injuries.

The intensity of the war between Hezbollah and Israel has gradually increased, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Lebanese-Israeli border.