The funeral for Youssef Assaf, a volunteer with the Lebanese Red Cross, in Tyre, Lebanon. AP
Speaking at an emergency press conference, Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine said nine hospitals had been hit, five of which were forced to close due to damage.
He added that 18 attacks had targeted ambulance centres, with 48 vehicles damaged, while the death toll among health sector personnel had reached 51.
“Five new Israeli separate attacks were recorded today alone,” Nassereddine said, killing nine paramedics and wounding seven others.
Responding to repeated Israeli false allegations that ambulances were being "used for non-humanitarian purposes," the minister called for on-site inspections of vehicles operated by civil defence and the Red Cross.
“These teams work exclusively to save lives and are protected under international law,” he said.
Nassereddine stressed that “the martyrs of the ambulance and press sectors are not numbers,” urging respect for healthcare workers amid the ongoing hostilities.
He also pointed to continued coordination with national and ministerial bodies, expressing hope that Lebanon would overcome the crisis “through unity and solidarity.”
In tandem, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organisation, has called for an end to Israeli attacks on medical staff after nine more paramedics were killed in southern Lebanon on Saturday.
At least 47 people have been killed in Israeli strikes across Lebanon over the past 24 hours, the health ministry has said.
Officials in Beirut said 112 had also been wounded as Israel’s bombardment continues.
Since 2 March, Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,189 people and wounded 3,427 others across Beirut and southern and eastern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Israel has also damaged or destroyed large areas of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, clinics, welfare institutions, roads, and bridges across the country.
In parallel, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded more than 20 American and Israeli attacks on healthcare in Iran since the start of the US-Israeli war, warning that strikes on medical facilities are disrupting lifesaving services and putting patients and staff at risk.
Data from the WHO’s Surveillance of Attacks on Health Care monitor shows 21 attacks by Israel and the US targeting medical facilities across Iran since the start of the war. At least nine people have been reported killed.
An earlier WHO statement on attacks on healthcare facilities in Iran said, "These attacks not only cost lives but deprive communities of care when they need it most. Health workers, patients, and health facilities must always be protected under international humanitarian law."
Short link: