The United Nations has said that it was “deeply disturbed” by Israel’s “unacceptable” attacks on health facilities and health workers in Lebanon after up to 11 civilians were killed in a single day, including 10 paramedics.
“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,” the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, said Thursday.
“Attacks on healthcare violate international humanitarian law and are unacceptable. The rules of war are clear: civilians, including healthcare workers, must be protected.”
He called for the protection of civilian infrastructure, including health facilities, saying “healthcare is not a target. Civilians are not a target.”
“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,” Riza stated.
The UN peacekeeping force deployed in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel called for ending the escalation a day after exchanges of fire killed 16 people in Lebanon.
UNIFIL said Thursday it is very concerned over the surge of cross-border violence between the Israeli military and Hezbollah.
On Wednesday, a series of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed 16 people and a barrage of rockets fired by Hezbollah killed one Israeli man, making it the deadliest day in more than five months of fighting along the border.
UNIFIL said the escalation has caused a high number of civilian deaths adding that it is imperative that “this escalation cease immediately.”
“We urge all sides to put down their weapons and begin the process toward a sustainable political and diplomatic solution,” UNIFIL said.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry said its UN mission would file a complaint with the Security Council against the Israeli “massacres” in southern Lebanon.
The Ministry said on X that the complaint involves attacks on southern villages that have left more than 18 people dead, including civilians and paramedics, in only a few days.
