The Lebanese Ambulance Association called for a broader solidarity campaign to demand that the international community provide protection for all ambulance crews in accordance with international law (Anatolia)
Beirut -
Israel continues to expand its strikes in southern Lebanon in terms of scope and type, breaking various prohibitions in the rules of engagement established by Hezbollah since the eighth of last October, as the massacre of 7 paramedics in the town of Habbariyeh came less than 24 hours after Israel’s deepest air attack. In the raid that targeted the Hermel outskirts, near the border with Syria, northeastern Lebanon.
The town of Al-Habbariyeh, one of the villages of Al-Arqoub in the Hasbaya district, overlooking Mount Hermon, the Shebaa Farms, and the Kfarshouba hills, woke up to horrific destruction similar to the various border villages, which had turned into an open battlefield. The target was an ambulance center affiliated with the “Lebanese Ambulance Association,” which the raid leveled to the ground. Bodies and wounded continued to be recovered for hours.
Among the seven paramedic martyrs were two twins, Ahmed and Hussein Qasim Al-Shaar (19 years old). According to their mother, who said in a television statement, they “used to spend the night every day with their fellow paramedics at the center, to respond to any urgent call.” The town of Al-Habbariyeh also bid farewell to both paramedics. Abdullah Atwi, Muhammad Al-Farouq Atwi, Baraa Abu Qais, Abdul Rahman Al-Shaar, and Muhammad Hammoud.
Targeting the Ambulance Association
In a statement, it mourned the martyrs of the Lebanese Ambulance Association, which supervises the Emergency and Relief Service, and called for a broader solidarity campaign to demand that the international community “oblige Israel to stop these crimes, and to provide protection for all ambulance crews in accordance with international law.”
The martyrdom of the paramedics also caused political confusion, after many linked the Ambulance Association to the Islamic Group, so the latter issued a statement confirming that it was not connected to the ambulance center, and that it was affiliated exclusively with the Lebanese Ambulance Association.
Despite the independence of the Ambulance Association, it was affiliated with the Islamic Medical Association, which in turn was linked to the Islamic Group, according to Al Jazeera Net information. This association was dismantled years ago, and the association was officially granted independence under the name “Lebanese Ambulance Association,” so that it would not take on a partisan character.
Following the massacre, the political official of the Islamic Group in the South, Bassam Hammoud, stated that “the occupation’s targeting of the humanitarian center crossed red lines.”
Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee claimed that “a central leader belonging to the Islamic group was eliminated inside the building,” and accused him of involvement in carrying out attacks.
People examine the collapsed building after Israeli air strikes on the Islamic Medical Society in the town of Hebbariyeh in southern Lebanon (Anatolia)
Repeat crime
This was not the first time that paramedics were targeted in southern Lebanon. Previously, 7 paramedics working for the Civil Defense - Islamic Health Authority (affiliated with Hezbollah) were martyred in 3 separate strikes, and the party mourned them:
The first: last January 11, when paramedics Ali Mahmoud Al-Sheikh and Sajid Ramzi Qasim were martyred, following the targeting of an ambulance center in the town of Hanin.
The second: On February 22, when paramedics Hussein Muhammad Khalil and Muhammad Yaqoub Ismail were martyred in the town of Blida.
The third: On the fourth of March, 3 paramedics were martyred in the town of Al-Adissa, namely Hussein Muhammad Ibrahim, Abbas Ahmed Hajij, and Ali Hassan Suwaidan.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health condemned the targeting of paramedics in the town of Al-Habaria, and said, “These attacks violate international laws and the Geneva Convention, which stresses the necessity of neutralizing health centers and health workers.”
Head of the Department of Hospitals and Clinics in the Ministry of Health, Hisham Fawaz, told Al Jazeera Net, "Israel threatens the safety of health and civil defense teams in the south, and they are already facing great difficulties in moving to relief people."
He added, "We in the Ministry place the issue of Israel's attack on paramedics and medical teams under the custody of the international community and the World Health Organization," and said, "In addition to the casualties and martyrs of paramedics, Israel has targeted about 17 ambulances since launching its aggression against southern Lebanon."
Military connotations
For his part, military expert, retired Brigadier General Hisham Jaber, believes that “hitting civilians, specifically medics who work in bodies affiliated with parties involved on the front, directly or indirectly, means that Israel’s target bank gradually becomes forbidden, as if Lebanon were truly engaged in a wide-ranging war.” “Because we are witnessing the targeting of paramedics, health centers and hospitals in Gaza.”
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Jaber considered that "it is striking that Israeli spokespeople named enemies of theirs other than Hezbollah in the south, such as the Islamic Group, to justify their aggression against the paramedics."
He also explained that the air strike on Hermel is a “dangerous indicator,” because it represents the deepest range that has been struck since the outbreak of the southern front, and it is about 120 kilometers away by direct air line from the southern border, “where Israel claimed the presence of a Hezbollah weapons center.”
On the other hand, “Hezbollah maintains its strikes at a range of about 30 kilometers, because the range of its military targets within this area is very wide,” according to Jaber. He says, “Hezbollah expands its strikes in the eastern sector and not in the western sector, because the latter is close to Haifa, Tel Aviv, and the Palestinian coast.” Any strike there would mean a declaration of all-out war on his part, while he would avoid being drawn into Israeli provocations.”
Before targeting Al-Habbariyeh, Israeli bombing had previously targeted paramedics 3 times, resulting in 7 martyrs (Anatolia)
Israeli justifications
On another level, writer and political analyst Daoud Rammal considers that “Israel is creating unreal excuses to justify striking civilians and paramedics, and is promoting that Hezbollah and the recent factions are using civil defense and ambulances to transport fighters and missiles, in order to allow itself to target medical teams and civil defense centers, which are concerned with By removing rubble, recovering victims, and transporting the wounded.”
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Rammal believes that “the goal is to intimidate the remaining civilians in the border villages, and to try to empty the area of all its residents and to strike all aspects of life in it.” He believes that Israel’s expansion of its strikes, most recently in Hermel, is a message that “it is outside all rules of engagement.” .
If Hezbollah had established the Baalbek-Hermel versus Golan equation, then Israel would have moved the battle deep into Hermel to provoke the Hezbollah equation, which might preserve the Baalbek-Hermel versus Golan equation, in Rammal’s opinion. He said, “Hezbollah is trying to absorb Israeli provocations, so it resorts to To strike the occupied Golan from Lebanon and not from Syria,” which, in his opinion, indicates the Syrian government’s decision not to allow the Syrian arena to be a support front, and for the regime to remain on the side of the Arab-Gulf position politically.
Rammal talks about information about messages conveyed by Lebanon, to the effect that “if matters end in Gaza due to Israel’s commitment to the recent UN Resolution 2728, the Lebanese front may witness an unprecedented escalation, because Israel will no longer connect the two fronts.”
Here was the message that American envoy Amos Hockstein carried during his recent visit to Beirut, and delivered it exclusively to Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, and it included - according to Rimal - harsh conditions, the most prominent of which is that “the implementation of Resolution 1701 must not only be military and security, but also political, that is, border arrangements.” New".
Source: Al Jazeera