BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 4 (UPI) — Israel must immediately stop its devastating war against Lebanon — that Tel Aviv says aims at destroying the Iran-backed Hezbollah — to avoid the collapse of the healthcare system and spare the tiny Arab country the same fate as Gaza, Lebanese and international medical officials said.
Israel has been violating international humanitarian laws by targeting hospitals, medical care centers and health workers, 178 of whom have been killed so far, according to recent comments by Lebanese Health Minister Dr. Firas Abiad.
International humanitarian organizations, including Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and Première Urgence Internationale, have denounced the regular targeting of Lebanon’s health infrastructure, calling on Israel to stop its “indiscriminate bombing campaigns” that do not spare civilians or medical and humanitarian workers.
Amnesty International went a step further in expressing fears that Lebanon may face the same dramatic situation as the occupied Gaza Strip.
The new round of Israel-Hezbollah war came to add tremendous pressure on the country’s health care sector, which was barely recovering from the shocks it suffered in recent years, including the 2019 financial collapse, the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Beirut port explosion.
The World Health Organization saw hope for the revival of the health system in late 2023 after the return of some health workers to the country. During the financial crisis, almost 40% of the Lebanese doctors left the country, leaving many hospitals and medical facilities suffering because of the emerging shortages and financial distress.
With the raging war, “Now, we went back to [point] zero.” Dr Abdinasir Abubakar, the WHO representative in Lebanon, told UPI.
The “turning point,” Abubakar said, was the highly sophisticated unprecedented pager and talkie-walkie attacks carried out by Israel against Hezbollah followers Sept 17 and 18.
Twelve people, including two children, were killed and more than 3,000 were wounded, with severe injuries mainly to eyes, hands and waists.
In less than an hour, hospitals became overwhelmed with such a great number of wounded people.
“Some 100 hospitals were involved in managing that day alone, and we have reached the level where some hospitals were running out of supplies. Doctors and nurses continued to work 24, 48 and 72 hours continuously. That was the beginning of a major crisis,” Abubakar said.
The situation worsened when Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah and several of his military commanders in a huge airstrike targeting his bunker in Beirut’s southern suburbs Sept 27.
It then stepped up its air attacks against Hezbollah officials, headquarters and bases, while its forces started to advance inside southern Lebanon.
The relentless Israeli air and ground bombardment led to large destruction of villages, property, hospitals and schools in the targeted areas. Some 3,002 have been killed and 13,492 wounded since October 2023, according to Lebanese Health Ministry counts.
Health workers were not spared, with some 178 killed and 306 injured. Eight out of 40 hospitals targeted from a total of 160 are now out of service while seven continue to partially operate. Some 244 ambulances and other medical vehicles were destroyed.
Abubakar said WHO and all humanitarian organizations “are seriously concerned” about the repeated attacks on the health care sector.
“Almost every day, we are losing health care workers, ambulances and facilities. If this continues, we will reach a breaking point where hospitals will be full and health workers will be overwhelmed,” he said. “We don’t want to [reach] the same level as in Gaza.”
During their planning for the conflict, Lebanon Health Ministry and WHO estimated that 5,000 people would be injured in six months, but the country reached that number within a few days with the pager attacks.
Hospitals have been so far able to deal with the growing number of injured due to the ministry leadership and dedication of the medical staff, the WHO representative stressed.
But it is getting “harder every day,” according to Suleiman Haroun, president of the Syndicate of Private Hospitals.
Haroun told UPI that the pressure is increasing on the hospitals, especially in southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as the southern suburbs, where “they are not functioning in a normal way … just for emergencies.”
Hospitals in more secure areas are not only taking in war wounded, but also have to treat sick, displaced people who fled for safety and need special assistance, such as cancer patients and those who require dialysis.
“The main challenge we are currently facing is the fact that the medical teams are exhausted morally and physically from working in an intensive way for many consecutive days,” Haroun sadi.
Recalling the Sept. 17 pager attacks and the resulting injuries, he said “we have never seen such a thing before; every patient needed 2 or 3 surgeons to operate on him for his eye and hand injuries. … Many still need more surgeries to recover.”
Medications and supplies still are available, but the fear is the lack of funding.
“So far, we are managing but it doesn’t mean that we will be able to function for a long time,” Haroun said, “We are speaking of several weeks, not months — thus the need for an immediate cease-fire.”
Among the 1 million displaced scattered in various parts of the county, some 300,000 live in poor conditions at overcrowded shelters and public schools.
A cholera case was confirmed by the Health Ministry because of poor water and sanitation conditions, highlighting the escalating health risks amidst the ongoing conflict.
“You have the ingredients for diseases to spread. We have seen the first case of cholera. The number of diarrheas is increasing … the risk of outbreaks is very high,” Abubakar warned.
Last month, the United Nations launched a flash appeal for $426 million to assist civilians affected by the escalating conflict and resulting humanitarian crisis in Lebanon. However, only 17% of the targeted amount has been raised so far.
Sahel Hospital in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which continues to provide medical care despite the relentless Israeli shelling, found itself under additional threats after Israel claimed that Hezbollah was keeping $500 million in cash and gold in a bunker under the hospital.
Shocked by the Israeli allegations, the hospital evacuated its staff and patients and called on journalists to inspect the site. Despite that Israel repeated its threats, no Hezbollah assets were found.
Fadi Alame, a deputy in the parliament and president of the Sahel Medical Group, denied the Israeli claims saying they meant to create “fear and confusion” and force another hospital in the targeted area to stop operating.
“This is what happened, and we evacuated the hospital,” Alame told UPI. “It was part of the [Israeli] psychological war.”
A few days later, the hospital resumed providing medical services to cancer patients and those in need of dialysis because “they have no other place to go to.”
Arab and international urgent humanitarian assistance has been pouring on Lebanon, but the most urgent is to stop the “killing and destruction,” according to Alame.
Forcing Israel to respect international humanitarian laws to protect civilians, medical staff and facilities, is an immediate urgent issue.
With WHO documenting and collecting information on what he called Israel’s violation of international human rights, Abubakar said, “There should be accountability …. There will be one day when judgement will come …. The world is not [the] accepting Gaza [tragedy], not accepting [the one developing in] Lebanon and not accepting Ukraine[‘s].”