Medical personnel and healthcare facilities have been directly targeted as part of the Israeli genocidal war in Gaza and Lebanon.
In this regard, two paramedics employed by the Islamic Health Association were killed in an Israeli occupation raid that targeted an ambulance in the southern Lebanon town of Deir Qanoun Ras al-Ain today, Friday.
This attack is part of a systematic Israeli strategy to target medical personnel, which doubles civilian suffering and impedes relief efforts, according to the Ministry of Health’s Emergency Operations Center.
According to official statistics, the Lebanese health sector has suffered severe losses since the Israeli escalation started last September, with 214 medical personnel killed and 321 people injured.
Given that over a million people have been displaced from conflict areas, the raids targeted vital and medical facilities, causing the health system in the southern regions to become nearly completely paralyzed.
Gaza: The Collapse of the Health System
Since the Israeli war of extermination began on October 7, 2023, the health system in the Gaza Strip has been under unheard-of strain.
Seven medical staff members, including two critically ill ones, were injured in a series of airstrikes that targeted Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.
The hospital’s services were nearly entirely interrupted as a result of the bombing of the main electricity generator, which made the suffering of the patients and injured worse.
The hospital director confirmed that the occupation bombed the hospital while trying to treat the wounded, a blatant violation of all international laws and humanitarian norms. These attacks show a clear intent to prevent medical personnel from carrying out their humanitarian duty.
Medical personnel and facilities are protected targets
Although international law requires that the safety of medical personnel and health facilities be guaranteed, Israel’s repeated targeting of these groups shows a flagrant disregard for these agreements.
In addition to taking the lives of medical professionals, these attacks have exacerbated the health crisis in Gaza and Lebanon, where the civilian populace lacks access to quality healthcare.
The ongoing Israeli blockade of Gaza exacerbates the crisis because the occupation keeps supplies needed to rebuild damaged medical facilities out of the country, making the already dire humanitarian situation worse.
Civilians in Gaza and Lebanon are living in terrible humanitarian conditions as a result of these violations, where it is challenging to provide basic healthcare because medical facilities have been destroyed and supplies are scarce.
In addition to the human losses, this reality leads to enormous psychological burdens on the population and medical personnel, who work in extremely dangerous conditions.
The international community cannot overlook the war crime of targeting medical personnel in Gaza and Lebanon, which emphasizes how urgently human rights organizations and international governments must act quickly and effectively to ensure that these violations cease and those responsible are held accountable. The health sector also needs immediate humanitarian assistance to ensure that patients’ care continues.
Since safeguarding medical personnel and facilities is not only a moral duty but also a legal and humanitarian duty mandated by the global conscience, the silence surrounding these crimes is an implicit partnership in them and will worsen the humanitarian crisis in both nations.
