Three Lebanese paramedics were killed and two others wounded, one critically, in an Israeli attack while they were extinguishing fires in the southern town of Faroun, Lebanon’s health ministry said on Saturday.
“Israeli forces targeted a team from the Lebanese Civil Defense as they responded to fires sparked by recent Israeli airstrikes,” a ministry statement said, specifying that the strike hit a fire truck.
The Israeli military said: “Earlier today, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) struck and eliminated terrorists from the Amal terrorist organization that operated within a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Froun in southern Lebanon.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the attack as a violation of international law and announced an emergency meeting on Monday with Western ambassadors and international organizations to address the ongoing hostilities.
“To date, because of Israel’s aggression, 25 paramedics from various ambulance teams have been killed, along with two health workers, and 94 paramedics and health workers have been injured,” the health ministry statement added.
The health ministry also condemned the attack as a “blatant strike” on an official Lebanese state apparatus, marking the second such attack on an emergency team in less than 12 hours.
Hezbollah issued a statement, saying it launched a “squadron of missiles” in response to the Faroun attack, targeting an Israeli military headquarters, causing casualties.
Around 140 civilians have been killed by Israeli bombardment of Lebanon since October 8, when hostilities broke out between the Israeli military and Hezbollah in parallel with the war in Gaza.
The intensity of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel has ratcheted up steadily, displacing tens of thousands of people on either side of the Lebanese Israeli frontier.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, between October 8, 2023, and August 26, at least 133 civilians have been killed. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, the total number of casualties stands at 2,412, including 564 fatalities.
