The Lebanese Red Cross issued an official statement announcing the death of one of its paramedics and the injury of another, as a result of direct targeting of an ambulance team while it was carrying out a humanitarian mission in the town of Beit Yahoun in the Bint Jbeil district.
The statement explained that the emergency teams were targeted by an Israeli drone at around 20:15 pm on Sunday, April 12, while carrying out an emergency mission on the town’s road. This attack resulted in the death of paramedic Hassan Badawi and the injury of another paramedic with minor injuries. They were both transferred to Tibnin Governmental Hospital.
The Red Cross confirmed that it coordinated with UNIFIL to ensure protection and facilitate safe passage before carrying out the mission, in accordance with approved procedures. In addition, the International Committee of the Red Cross has been informed. The statement indicated that the ambulances carried clear humanitarian badges and were illuminated from all sides.
The organization expressed its deep concern about the repeated targeting of its crews, and stressed that these teams adhere to the basic principles of humanitarian work, most notably neutrality, impartiality, and independence. The organization considered this attack to be a clear and clear violation of international humanitarian law.
In a related context, the Health Emergency Operations Center at the Ministry of Public Health announced that this direct targeting represents an additional violation of international norms, stressing its intention to file lawsuits to hold those responsible for these attacks accountable.
This incident comes as part of a series of attacks targeting ambulance and civil defense teams over the past weeks, as repeated attacks were recorded while carrying out relief missions, leading to casualties and obstructing rescue operations.
This escalation coincides with a large-scale military escalation in the south, where raids and bombing continue on many towns, which increases the seriousness of the humanitarian situation and exposes medical teams to direct danger, amid warnings of the worsening of the crisis in light of the continuation of these targeting.
