GENEVA: At least 28 on-duty medics have been killed in the past 24 hours in Lebanon, where Israel has launched airstrikes and sent troops to fight Hezbollah in an escalating conflict, the World Health Organization chief said on Thursday.
“Many (other) health workers are not reporting to duty and fled the areas where they work due to bombardments,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an online press briefing, calling for stronger protections for health workers.
“This is severely limiting the provision of mass trauma management and continuity of health services,” he said.
The global health agency will not be able to deliver a large planned shipment of trauma and medical supplies to the country on Friday due to flight restrictions, he added.
WHO’s representative in Lebanon Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar told the briefing that all of the health care workers killed in the past day had been on duty, helping with the wounded.
A total of nearly 2,000 people have been killed, including 127 children, and 9,384 injured since the start of Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the last year, the country’s health ministry said.
“Hospitals have been already evacuated. I think what I can say for now is the capacity for mass casualty management exists, but it’s just a matter of time until the system actually reaches its limit,” said the WHO’s Abubakar.
![]()
Dozens of health workers killed in Lebanon over past day, WHO says
Short Url
https://arab.news/8kfcb
Dozens of health workers killed in Lebanon over past day, WHO says
- “Many (other) health workers are not reporting to duty and fled the areas where they work due to bombardments,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said
- “This is severely limiting the provision of mass trauma management and continuity of health services”
Israeli reservist rams vehicle into Palestinian man praying in West Bank
JERUSALEM: An Israeli reservist soldier rammed his vehicle into a Palestinian man as he prayed on a roadside in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, after earlier firing shots in the area, the Israeli military said.
“Footage was received of an armed individual running over a Palestinian individual,” it said in a statement, adding the individual was a reservist and his military service had been terminated.
The reservist acted “in severe violation of his authority” and his weapon had been confiscated, the military said.
Israeli media reported that he was being held under house arrest.
The Israeli police did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The Palestinian man went to hospital for checks after the attack, but was unhurt and is now at home.
Video which aired on Palestinian TV shows a man in civilian clothing with a gun slung over his shoulder driving an off-road vehicle into a man praying on the side of the road.
This year was one of the most violent on record for Israeli civilian attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, according to United Nations data that shows more than 750 injuries.
More than a thousand Palestinians were killed in the West Bank between October 7, 2023 and October 17, 2025, mostly in operations by security forces and some by settler violence, according to the UN In the same period, 57 Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks.
“Footage was received of an armed individual running over a Palestinian individual,” it said in a statement, adding the individual was a reservist and his military service had been terminated.
The reservist acted “in severe violation of his authority” and his weapon had been confiscated, the military said.
Israeli media reported that he was being held under house arrest.
The Israeli police did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The Palestinian man went to hospital for checks after the attack, but was unhurt and is now at home.
Video which aired on Palestinian TV shows a man in civilian clothing with a gun slung over his shoulder driving an off-road vehicle into a man praying on the side of the road.
This year was one of the most violent on record for Israeli civilian attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, according to United Nations data that shows more than 750 injuries.
More than a thousand Palestinians were killed in the West Bank between October 7, 2023 and October 17, 2025, mostly in operations by security forces and some by settler violence, according to the UN In the same period, 57 Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks.
Latest updates
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.