BEIRUT: The United Nations on Thursday said it was “deeply disturbed” by attacks on health care facilities, a day after several strikes blamed on Israel killed 10 emergency rescue workers in southern Lebanon.
“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.
There has been near-daily cross-border fire between Lebanon’s Hezbollah, an ally of Palestinian militant group Hamas, and Israel since Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, triggering war in Gaza.
Lebanese groups say three separate Israeli strikes on Wednesday, including on a health center in the border village of Habariyeh, killed the 11 civilians.
“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 added.
“Attacks on health care violate international humanitarian law and are unacceptable,” the UN official said in a statement.
Several militant groups in Lebanon operate health centers and emergency response operations.
Hezbollah said four of its fighters and two rescuers were killed in Wednesday’s strikes, while its ally the Amal movement said it had lost two members, including a rescuer.
An official from the Jamaa Islamiya militant group had earlier told AFP that “seven rescuers” were killed in Israeli strikes on the emergency center in Habariyeh.
The Israeli military said the target of one of the strikes was “a military compound” and those killed were Jamaa Islamiya militants.
It said a “significant terrorist operative” and other members of the group were planning attacks against Israel at the time of the strike.
Hezbollah responded to the deadly strikes by sending a barrage of rockets into northern Israel, killing one civilian in Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday.
The group on Thursday said they targeted the northern Israeli town of Shlomi and agricultural village of Goren in retaliation for the previous day’s attacks.
The uptick in violence has raised fears of a broader escalation in the conflict.
At least 346 people have been killed in Lebanon — mostly Hezbollah fighters, but also including at least 68 civilians — in clashes with Israel over the last six months, according to an AFP tally.
The fighting has also displaced tens of thousands of people in southern Lebanon and in northern Israel, where the military says 10 soldiers and eight civilians have been killed.
UN ‘deeply disturbed’ by strikes on Lebanon rescue workers
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UN ‘deeply disturbed’ by strikes on Lebanon rescue workers
- “Up to 11 civilians were killed in a single day, including 10 paramedics,” said Imran Riza, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon
- “Attacks on health care violate international humanitarian law and are unacceptable”
14 migrants drown off Turkiye after chase ends in deadly collision
- Search and rescue operations were continuing by land, sea and air to locate any remaining people who may still be missing
ANKARA: At least 14 migrants drowned on Monday after a boat carrying them collided with a coast guard boat off Turkiye’s Mediterranean coast during a chase, officials said.
The incident occurred near the coast of Demre, in Antalya province, as the vessel carrying Afghans ignored calls to stop and attempted maneuvers at high-speed to escape the coast guard boats, the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Gov. Hulusi Sahin as saying.
Seven people were rescued from the sea by coast guard teams and given immediate medical care, Sahin said. Fourteen others who reached the shore were detained by gendarmerie units.
Search and rescue operations were continuing by land, sea and air to locate any remaining people who may still be missing.
Authorities have launched both a judicial and an administrative investigation into the incident, Anadolu said.
Separately, Turkiye has drawn up plans to deal with a potential inflow of people fleeing the war in neighboring Iran, Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said on Wednesday, with preparations including possible buffer zones along the frontier and tent camps.
There was currently no unusual movement at the three border gates along the Iran-Turkiye border, Ciftci added.
Speaking in Ankara, Ciftci said three contingency plans had been drawn up by authorities: managing any potential migrant flow on the Iranian side of the border; creating buffer zones along the frontier if movement cannot be stopped; and letting people into Turkiye under controlled conditions.
He added that Turkiye had prepared initial capacity to host up to 90,000 people in the event of a sudden inflow, including tent camps and temporary accommodation sites.
On Monday, hundreds of Iranians crossed the border into Turkiye. Others were reportedly waiting to cross. Ciftci said authorities had been informed that Iran was restricting its own citizens from leaving the country, while allowing Turkish nationals and third-country citizens to exit.
