Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has accused Israel of committing a “heinous crime” after a double strike in the southern town of Majdal Zoun killed five people, including three civil defence rescue workers who had arrived to help those injured in the initial attack.
According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, the rescuers were killed in a second Israeli strike while carrying out their humanitarian duties. Salam described the act as “a new and described war crime perpetrated by Israel” and “a flagrant violation of the principles and rules of international humanitarian law.”
“Targeting elements of the Civil Defence in Majdal Zoun, and their killing while carrying out their humanitarian duty, constitutes a new and described war crime,” Salam posted on social media. He vowed that the government would “spare no effort to condemn this heinous crime in international forums and to mobilise all efforts to compel Israel to cease its ongoing violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
The Lebanese army reported that two of its soldiers were wounded in the second strike, which also targeted rescue workers and two civilian bulldozers. Media reports indicate that Israeli forces attacked a Lebanese military patrol escorting the civil defence team.
President Joseph Aoun also condemned the killings, calling them part of a “series of attacks that targeted relief and first aid workers.” He stated that Israel “continues to violate international laws and conventions that protect civilians, paramedics, Civil Defence personnel, the Red Cross, and workers in the fields of rescue, first aid, and medicine.”
Despite a US-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, Israeli forces continue daily air strikes, primarily in the south and east. Hezbollah has responded with rockets and drones into Israel and occupied areas of southern Lebanon.
Ramzi Kaiss, a Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, said international silence on Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza “has only emboldened the Israeli military’s atrocities.” He called on Israel’s allies, including the US, UK, Germany, and other EU states, to suspend arms sales and impose targeted sanctions on officials implicated in grave crimes.
At least eight people were killed in attacks across Lebanon on Tuesday. The death toll from Israeli attacks since March 2 has risen to 2,534, with 7,863 wounded.
Source: www.aljazeera.com