28 Health Professionals Slain In Lebanon Within 24 Hours, According To WHO Chief

The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief announced on Thursday that 28 healthcare workers had been killed in Lebanon in the last 24 hours, where Israel has started airstrikes and dispatched soldiers to combat Hizbollah in an intensifying conflict. Many (other) health workers are not reporting to duty and have fled the areas where they work due to bombardment,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an online press briefing. “This is severely limiting the provision of mass trauma management and continuity of health services,” according to him.

Earlier in the day, Lebanon’s health minister said that Israeli fire had killed over 40 paramedics and firefighters in three days, bringing the total to 97 since Hizbollah and Israel began fighting last October.

According to Firass Abiad, 40 persons “among those working in ambulances and fire trucks” were slain over three days. He stated 97 “paramedics and firefighters” had been killed and 188 injured since the conflict began.

The toll includes emergency workers from Hizbollah and other Lebanese factions. Since the riots began, 1,974 people have been killed by Israeli fire, including 127 children, he said. Over 9,350 people have been wounded.