Twelve doctors, nurses and paramedics were killed in an attack on a primary healthcare center in southern Lebanon, announced the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
According to the WHO, the attack targeted the Bourj Qalaouiyeh health center on Friday evening, amid escalating tensions and fighting in the region. The victims were medical personnel who were working at the facility at the time of the attack.
In a message posted on the social network X, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus referred to "a tragic development" in the escalating crisis in the Middle East. He specified that these deaths came on top of other recent attacks against medical facilities.
Earlier in the day, two paramedics were also killed in an attack on a health facility in the town of Al Sowana, bringing the total number of health workers killed in less than 24 hours to fourteen.
This violence comes as the regional conflict intensifies and clashes between Hezbollah and Israel continue along the Lebanese border, in the wake of the war between the United States and Israel against Iran.
The WHO reiterated that medical facilities and health personnel must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law.
