With the fire engine’s storage unit ajar, Mohamad Hassanen declares that they carry no arms, but instead, house items such as boots, helmets, and additional safety wear. Prior to this, Hassanen revealed the contents of an ambulance, filled with bulletproof vests and durable helmets required for the survival of his medic team. He confirms that there are no instances of ambulances carrying weapons. This, Hassanen underlines, is a rule known by all medics.
Representing the Al Shifaa Association, a non-governmental organisation focused on health from Lebanon, Hassanen and his cohort respond to airstrike incidents in Beirut’s severely-affected southern areas. The Israeli offense against Lebanon, marked by its fierceness, has led to the death of numerous medics and first responders. The death toll of healthcare and emergency workers has surpassed 100 since the previous October, reported the United Nations’ human rights bureau recently. Overall, more than 2,300 fatalities in Lebanon have been documented since the escalation of the Israel-Hizbullah clash following the Hamas-initiated attack on Israel.
In recent weeks, a spike in such deaths is evident. Israeli strikes caused the death of at least 50 paramedics within a two-week span recently, according to the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The Israeli military suggests they adhere to international law and make every feasible effort to minimise civilian casualties but has regularly issued warnings to health workers. On October 4th, via a post on X, they claimed that Hizbullah has been misusing health response vehicles to transit saboteurs and warfare gear. It further suggested that if the medical teams did not distance themselves from Hizbullah and refrained from cooperating with them, it could result in dire consequences. Given the context, this indicates that Israeli forces may discourage responses to airstrikes. Notably, these airstrikes, despite targeting designated Hizbullah locations, have proven to affect civilian residences, a historical marketplace from the Ottoman era, causing the death of civil defence emergency voluntary workers inside a church, and increasingly, civilians.
On October 12th, IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee reinforced the allegations of ambulances being misused for ferrying militants and munitions, adding that any vehicular transport of armed personnel would face adverse actions, no matter the vehicle type. This exacerbates mounting anxieties in Lebanon that Israeli forces intend to transform the country into a latter-day Gaza.
A report from a United Nations investigation committee, disclosed recently, accuses Israel of deliberately executing a strategy aimed at annihilating Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure. The report details horrific actions such as wilful killings, injuries, arrests, abuse, torture of medical staff and intentional targeting of ambulances, labeling these as war crimes and crimes against humanity involving extermination. It also condemned these acts as a form of collective punishment by Israeli forces, which took place at a time when medical establishments should have been safeguarded by international humanitarian laws.
Speaking in the context of Lebanon, the spokesperson for the World Health Organization, Christian Lindmeier, confirmed that since September 17th, health establishments have been subjected to 18 isolated acts of violence. According to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, by the start of October, six hospitals and 40 common healthcare facilities in Lebanon had ceased to function.
On the 10th of October, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) declared that it had to temporarily halt operations in areas impacted by air strikes. Areas included Hermel in the northeast of Lebanon, southern Lebanon, along with the southern parts of Beirut. MSF stated that these suspensions resulted in alarming repercussions for the local populace’s access to healthcare. MSF’s emergency co-ordinator in Lebanon, François Zamparini, confirmed that a hospital in the southern city of Nabatieh, which MSF had endeavoured to assist, bore the brunt of an air strike on October 5th.
Mohamad Hassanen, positioned between the ambulance and fire engine in Ghobeiry, part of Beirut’s southern district, voiced concern over a newly emerged threat from Israel that he and his coworkers are growing increasingly anxious about: the worrisome notion of ‘double tap’ air strikes. “Previously, we would rush straight to the bombing site when the intensity was comparatively manageable. Presently, we resort to waiting due to the possibility of a follow-up strike” he shares.
His sentiments are mirrored by Riad al Aynin, who presides over Al Hamsharie hospital located in Saida, a city located 40km to the south of Beirut. He has been actively cautioning his staff about the danger of subsequent explosions. Legal experts suggest these ‘double-tap’ air strikes could be classified as war crimes, as they typically target civilians responding to the initial attack rather than combatants. The Israeli Defense Forces have so far refrained from providing any comments in response to these concerns.
Hassanen states that the knock-on effect of postponed medical care results in the death of certain individuals who weren’t critically wounded in the initial explosion but died because of chemical inhalation. He goes on to say that a number of others die from trauma, which could’ve been avoided with immediate attention and care. Hassanen suggests that the Israeli army may be intentionally attacking medical teams based on the continuous presence of drone surveillance over his city. He can’t comprehend any other reason for first-aid teams being directly bombed.
On the question of whether Israel deliberately targets civilians, Hassanen believes anyone who’s unarmed and dressed in civilian attire is a civilian. He admits that he’s not able to discern whether or not a location was once a military site. However, with certainty, Hassanen notes that bombings are happening within a civilised city.