Gaza, Lebanon medical crews decry Israeli aggression crimes
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The Civil Defense directorates within both Lebanon and Gaza are calling for their status as humanitarian healthcare workers to be respected and be allowed to assist civilians without being targeted.
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Palestinians mourn their colleague civil defense member killed in the Israeli bombardment of Nuseirat refugee camp, at the morgue of al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, late Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP)
In light of the systematic Israeli aggression on Gaza and Lebanon, the Israeli occupation forces persist in their deliberate attacks on Palestinian and Lebanese medical crews and first responders. These assaults are aimed at preventing them from fulfilling their humanitarian duties, obstructing their access to the wounded and deceased, and targeting hospitals in a repetitive pattern used in both Gaza and Lebanon under numerous false pretexts.
Gaza's Civil Defense called on Thursday for Israeli forces to allow its teams access to vehicles that have been seized in northern Gaza.
"We have received hundreds of pleas through our media platforms and social networks from families who refused to evacuate their homes in Beit Lahia and Jabalia refugee camp," the Civil Defense said in a statement. "They are calling for our assistance due to injured people and bodies remaining in homes and streets."
"Some of our teams are still present in the northern governorate, despite the Israeli army forcing some of them yesterday to abandon fire trucks, rescue vehicles, and ambulances, ordering them to evacuate the Beit Lahia project area and move south. Some were allowed to pass through checkpoints, while four were arrested," the statement added.
Gaza's Civil Defense urged the international community, humanitarian organizations, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to "pressure the Israeli occupation to allow our teams in the north to reach the remaining Civil Defense vehicles and resume providing humanitarian services to civilians."
The Israeli onslaught on Gaza has continued for 384 days, killing 42,792 people and injuring 100,412 others, most of whom are children and women. The death toll remains incomplete, as thousands are still buried underneath the rubble.
Lebanese Civil Defense calls for respect of status
In parallel, the Islamic Health Organization's Civil Defense in Lebanon released a statement Thursday via its central media office, highlighting Israeli violations against medical teams operating in areas targeted by Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon.
The statement noted that "in defiance of all international resolutions, the Israeli enemy has, since the onset of its latest aggression on Lebanon, been directly targeting Civil Defense teams and centers." It also condemned "direct incitement through local provocateurs and the spread of false narratives to justify these attacks."
The statement added that "the latest of these accusations claims that the Islamic Health Organization's Civil Defense ambulances are being used to transport military personnel and equipment." This "false and inflammatory claim," according to the statement, "is intended to justify making these ambulances a target for attacks."
The Israeli enemy, the statement emphasized, "spreads these lies and fabrications that bear no relation to reality, as a pretext to target the health and emergency sectors, which provide a vital lifeline for our steadfast and sacrificing people."
The statement called on the Lebanese Health Ministry and local and international organizations to "take the necessary measures to protect and keep the healthcare sector out of the line of targeting and assault," in addition to "applying international law according to the Fourth Geneva Convention and its additional protocols."
The statement further clarified that the Islamic Health Organization, through its centers and resources, "works to serve the people," emphasizing that it "has no connection to military operations" and is "a registered association with official approval from the Ministry of Interior in Lebanon, holding a public utility decree from the Council of Ministers (by decree number 7114), and its centers operate under the supervision and monitoring of the Ministry of Public Health."
Systematic targeting of Lebanon's healthcare system
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon reported earlier in the month that two paramedics were killed after an ambulance belonging to the Islamic Health Association was directly targeted in Tebnin.
In a related context, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) revealed that Marjayoun Hospital in South Lebanon was taken out of service after its medical crew was forced to evacuate after an Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle used by the Islamic Health Association in the hospital's vicinity, killing four.
The Israeli occupation has been systematically trying to destroy Lebanon's healthcare system by targeting paramedics, civil defense, and emergency centers.
