Dozens of medical workers killed in Lebanon as WHO warns health care is ‘under attack’

GENEVA — Dozens of medical workers were killed over a 24-hour period in Lebanon, the head of the United Nations’ health agency said Thursday, as he outlined the “difficult and dangerous” conditions in parts of the country under Israeli bombardment.

World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 37 health facilities had closed in southern Lebanon and several Beirut hospitals had evacuated staff and patients, with health and humanitarian workers struggling to provide care with limited supplies.

“Health care continues to come under attack,” he said at a briefing in Geneva. “In Lebanon alone, 28 health workers have been killed in the last 24 hours.”

Many health workers were not reporting for duty after being displaced by ongoing Israeli strikes, “severely limiting the provision of mass trauma management and continuity of health services,” Tedros said.

A near-shutdown at Beirut’s airport had also prevented the WHO from delivering a large shipment of trauma and medical supplies to Lebanon on Friday, he added.

WHO’s representative in Lebanon, Abdunasir Abubakar, joined the briefing from Beirut and warned that much of the country’s health infrastructure was nearing its limit.

Though most hospitals were still functioning as they dealt with mass casualties, “the question is how long they can function if… the escalation continues,” he said.

On Thursday, Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad said 40 ambulance and firefighting staff had been killed in the previous three days.

Abiad said 97 paramedics and firefighters in the country had been killed by Israeli strikes since October 8 last year, as the death toll across the country during the same period climbed to 1,974, including 261 women and 127 children.

Overnight, seven medics working for the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Authority were killed by an Israeli strike on central Beirut. — CNN