海角大神

Under fire from Israel like never before, Lebanon鈥檚 first responders are determined to persevere

The Lebanese paramedic makes the pilgrimage every day. He kneels with reverence as he delivers a message at the grave of his son, an assistant rescuer killed in late March by an Israeli drone.

鈥淵ou went as a hero, my child 鈥� you chose that way,鈥� says Mohammed Suleiman, whispering the words of mourning. 鈥淣ow, you are sitting beside God.鈥�

Mr. Suleiman is director of the Nabatiyeh Ambulance Service, one of several networks of first responders in Lebanon that have faced a record death toll of 110, all killed by Israeli airstrikes and drone attacks since fighting renewed March 2 between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

Lebanon has been gripped by fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, since the Shiite militia launched rockets into Israel to avenge the assassination of Iran鈥檚 supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which triggered a sweeping Israeli air and ground campaign to uproot Hezbollah. While battles between Israel and Hezbollah have flared for decades, never before have emergency responders been struck at such scale.

Lebanon鈥檚 Ministry of Public Health says the high toll among paramedics is part of a deliberate attempt by Israel to undermine health infrastructure in the Shiite communities of south Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has built its strongholds. Israeli strikes have also damaged 131 emergency vehicles, caused the closure of three hospitals, and damaged 16 others, by the ministry鈥檚 tally.

The Israel Defense Forces denies specifically targeting medical teams. In a statement to the Monitor, the IDF said it struck 鈥渙nly military objectives,鈥� and that 鈥渕edical teams are afforded special protection, so long as they do not carry out actions outside their humanitarian role.鈥�

Facing their first deaths since Mr. Suleiman co-founded the ambulance service in 2002, the paramedics see them as a clear indication of how Israel鈥檚 target list has broadened.

Dressed in the group鈥檚 distinctive blue uniform with reflective gray and orange trim, Mr. Suleiman visits the graves, in separate cemeteries 鈥� when gaps in Israeli strikes permit 鈥� of his three team members killed wearing the same uniform.

Mr. Suleiman鈥檚 son Joud, at 16 years old a rescue assistant, was killed alongside a volunteer paramedic, Ali Jaber, as the pair were riding a motorcycle March 24, just minutes after leaving the first responders鈥� hilltop base, adjacent to the Nabatiyeh Hospital.

A third team member, Mohammed Abu Zaid, was among four paramedics killed April 15, when Israel carried out a 鈥渢riple tap鈥� attack against successive waves of medics, arriving by ambulance in the nearby town of Mayfadoun.

In the latest lethal incident, two Lebanese Civil Defense paramedics died Tuesday in Nabatiyeh, targeted while tending those who had been wounded, the health ministry said in a statement. It added that it is 鈥渄etermined not to remain silent regarding these crimes.鈥�

The day before, Israel killed one medic and wounded five others in a strike on a volunteer medical center run by the Ministry of Public Health in Srifa, in Sidon district, according to Lebanese media. A separate double-tap strike on Toul, in Nabatiyeh district, killed one medic from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee who was assisting strike victims.

鈥淢edical personnel, whether military or civilian, and other civilians, including journalists, are protected under international humanitarian law. Deliberately targeting them would amount to a war crime,鈥� Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said April 24 in Geneva.

Concerned by the high death toll that Israel inflicted upon Gaza rescue and health workers, Lebanon鈥檚 first responders take precautions to prove their work is purely humanitarian.

Medics of the Nabatiyeh Ambulance Service, for example, wear GoPro body cameras to record their work at strike sites, as well as inside their vehicles before and after arriving at a scene. They say they also wait 15 minutes before going to an attack location, to ensure that any military operation is complete.

鈥淎ctually, we are not going to the front lines; our duty was never to be in the midst of on-the-ground fighting, which would demand a different kind of rescue,鈥� says Mahdi Sadek, a co-founder and coordinator of the service. He compares its neutral status to that of the Red Cross.

While his team sometimes works alongside those with politically affiliated paramedics, such as Hezbollah 鈥� which runs a large civilian welfare apparatus that includes schools and hospitals, besides its armed wing 鈥� Mr. Sadek says he 鈥渄idn鈥檛 see any military activity during their work.鈥�

Body cameras showed the events of April 15 in Mayfadoun, for example. Israel struck the first ambulance of the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee. Then, it struck the ambulance team from the Amal-affiliated Risala Scout Association, which came to the first team鈥檚 rescue. Then, Israel struck the third rescue team, from the Nabatiyeh Ambulance Service 鈥� all within 30 minutes.

鈥淏ody cameras took shots of every moment of the strikes,鈥� says Mr. Sadek. 鈥淭here is no military activity. ... We document everything,鈥� he says, adding that the Israelis 鈥渉ad no excuse鈥� to target the paramedics.

When asked specifically about the two Israeli attacks that killed the three Nabatiyeh Ambulance Service rescuers, the IDF stated that the triple-tap strike on ambulances was 鈥渄irected at Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure, and not at an ambulance or rescue team.鈥�

The drone strike on March 24, the IDF stated, was also 鈥渄irected at Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure.鈥� The IDF did not provide evidence for the claim, or explain how two uniformed rescue team members on a motorcycle could be so designated.

鈥淚n our job ... we understand there is a lot of risk, but we鈥檝e got to continue working,鈥� says Mr. Sadek. 鈥淎fter we lost our three people, that makes us more devoted.

鈥淲e became more than a family. These guys were with us 24 hours a day. ... They were always with us, eating, sleeping, laughing, and playing,鈥� says the veteran paramedic, who describes a comradery strengthened by shared extreme experiences. 鈥淎nd then within seconds, they are gone. That puts a deep scar on us.鈥�

The United States announced a 45-day ceasefire Friday, added on to previous 10-day and three-week U.S.-brokered truces. But the fighting persists, with Israeli forces occupying and demolishing villages in a 6-mile-wide strip along Lebanon鈥檚 southern border, in a bid to create a buffer zone to prevent Hezbollah attacks. Hezbollah, too, continues firing missiles and drones at Israeli troops in Lebanon, and into Israel.

The team of 85 volunteers in the Nabatiyeh Ambulance Service is still reeling from its losses, and the unprecedented scale of destruction in the current conflict. Lebanese authorities say that 2,896 people 鈥� civilians and combatants alike 鈥� have been killed in the fighting.

The Nabatiyeh Ambulance Service is politically unaffiliated, unlike some other local first-responder networks that have Hezbollah or other party ties. Mr. Suleiman can discern only one reason for Israeli strikes on emergency teams.

鈥淲e are known here as a neutral organization. They are targeting us to put pressure on medics, to limit our services,鈥� he says. Instead, the Israeli attacks are having the opposite effect: 鈥淭his is making us go full force now, because we believe in our work.鈥�

He says his team follows the example of Imam Hussein, the seventh-century Shiite leader famed as a martyr for dying in battle rather than giving up his faith. He is widely venerated by Shiite fighters like Hezbollah鈥檚 for that legacy, and by these first responders for what they see as a lesson in generosity.

鈥淭his institution is built on giving, and Joud, Ali, and Mohammed gave their lives,鈥� says Mr. Suleiman.

鈥淲e give our lives to help others 鈥� this drives us,鈥� he says. 鈥淓verything we do is also what we do in peacetime. This [helping others] gives us so much satisfaction.鈥�