Israeli military attacks in Lebanon affected more than 20 hospitals, with five out of commission and 22 partially damaged, Youssef Bakash, head of the Lebanese Doctors Syndicate, told Al Jazeera.
Baksh said on Tuesday that about 150 medical workers were killed, including four doctors “carrying out humanitarian and medical missions”. As a result of the strike, more than 100 primary care centers were forced to close and 150 ambulances were destroyed, the doctor added.
Attacks on medical facilities and workers in the country have continued throughout the past year, but have intensified since September when fighting between Hezbollah and Israel escalated, Baksh said.
“The aim of these attacks is to cripple this sector,” the doctor said.
More information: An Israeli attack near Beirut's Rafik Hariri University Hospital on Monday killed at least 18 people, injured dozens and caused significant damage to the hospital, authorities said. The Israeli military said it had attacked a “Hezbollah terrorist target” but did not provide details.
A CNN analysis has found that Lebanon’s largest public hospital was not part of the evacuation order issued by the military.
In an interview with CNN on Monday, an official at another hospital in central Beirut vehemently denied the Israeli military’s accusation that Hezbollah bunkers were located underground, calling them “baseless.”
The Israeli military says a bunker believed to be located beneath the Sahel General Hospital holds “millions of dollars in gold and cash” and “functions as Hezbollah’s central financial facility.” Ta. Computer-generated graphics and illustrations of the bunker were shown, but CNN could not verify them.
Fadi Fakhri Alameh, one of the directors of the Sahel General Hospital, said the Israeli military had made similar claims in Gaza before targeting the hospital. “Now they are doing it in Lebanon,” he said.