Two health workers were among the 51 people killed in the latest wave of Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Sunday. The ministry accused the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of deliberately targeting medical personnel when it reported that the attacks hit two Health Authority facilities in Qalawiya and Tibnin, both in the Bint Jbeir district.
The strikes came more than two weeks after a U.S.-brokered cease‑fire took effect in mid‑April, yet the intensity of Israeli air and artillery operations has continued to rise. According to the ministry’s latest figures, 2,846 people have been killed since Israel launched a broad military offensive against Hezbollah on 2 March, shortly after it began a joint operation with the United States against Iran. More than 550 of those deaths occurred after the truce was introduced.
The United Nations earlier reported that at least 103 Lebanese medical workers have been killed and 230 injured in more than 130 IDF strikes during the current escalation. Israel has also faced accusations of deliberately striking ambulances and hospitals in Gaza, a claim it denies, saying the facilities were used by Hamas for military purposes.
War surgeon Tahir Mohammed, who has worked in both Gaza and Lebanon, told Al Jazeera that the pattern of attacks on health workers reflects a consistent policy. “We used to see our colleagues in Gaza come through the door all the time. I’ve had colleagues, nurses, medical students killed by Israeli weapons, and so to see the same policy of targeting healthcare workers in Lebanon… it’s consistent,” he said.
The IDF defended its actions, stating that the operations targeted more than 20 Hezbollah facilities in southern Lebanon, including weapons depots, command centres and other buildings it described as “used for military purposes.” Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, speaking to Al‑Arabiya, said that 86 villages in the south remain under Israeli occupation and that the city of Bint Jbeil has been reduced to “a copy of Gaza” because of the scale of destruction.
Beirut has signalled that it is willing to discuss a peace settlement with Israel provided the core conditions it has set are met, chiefly the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanese territory. The ongoing violence, which continues despite the cease‑fire, raises concerns about further civilian casualties and the erosion of international humanitarian norms.
