In a press conference characterized by intensity and horrific details, Public Health Minister Rakan Nasser al-Din revealed the toll of Israeli attacks on the health sector since March 2, which amounted to 51 martyrs among health workers, and stressed that “the martyrs of ambulances and journalism are not numbers.”
Nasser al-Din explained that “the brutal Israeli attack affects all civilian sectors,” pointing out that the pace of targeting has increased significantly in the past 24 hours, especially against ambulance teams.
He pointed out that 9 hospitals were bombed, including 5 that stopped working, in addition to 18 direct attacks on paramedics, and 48 ambulances were damaged, which reflects the enormous pressure on the health infrastructure.
“We affirm our commitment to defending the rights of health workers,” he stressed, stressing that international law guarantees their protection while carrying out their humanitarian duties.
In an escalatory step, the minister announced: “We will submit a complete legal file to the Council of Ministers in preparation for submitting a complaint to the Security Council regarding the Israeli attacks on the health sector,” in an effort to present these violations to the relevant international bodies.
He renewed his call to inspect ambulances belonging to the Civil Defense, the Red Cross, and all medical teams, in response to Israeli allegations of using them for other inhumane purposes, stressing that these teams work only to save lives.
This conference comes after a bloody day that witnessed the martyrdom of a number of journalists and paramedics in the south, which sparked a wide wave of political and human rights condemnations.
A media team was targeted in the Jezzine region, resulting in the martyrdom of “Al-Mayadeen” channel correspondent Fatima Fattouni, “Al-Manar” channel correspondent Ali Shuaib, and photographer Mohamed Fattouni, while they were covering the field.
This was preceded by a direct targeting of ambulance teams in the western town of Zawtar on March 28, 2026, where the “Islamic Message Scouts Association” mourned a number of its paramedics who were martyred while carrying out rescue missions.
On the other hand, the political and media controversy intensified, as statements were issued condemning the targeting of journalists, while Israel denied targeting journalists, claiming that some of them were linked to military entities, which was met with widespread rejection in Lebanon.
