29 June 2026

The Lancet magazine has published a new article documenting the direct and indirect targeting of health-care workers and the extensive damage inflicted on medical infrastructure in Lebanon by Israeli occupation forces.

Co-authored by Rakan Nassereldine, Lebanese minister of public Health, and Samar Al-Hajj from the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the American University of Beirut (AUB), the piece highlights staggering figures reflecting a “disruption of the entire continuum of care, from pre-hospital emergency response to primary care, hospital-based treatment, referral systems, rehabilitation, and long-term outpatient care”.

The article details alarming statistics recorded since the onset of hostile Israeli military operations in Lebanon from March 2, 2026, through June 14, 2026, including:

• 172 attacks on emergency medical services.
• 133 health-care workers martyred and 402 injured.
• 173 emergency vehicles and 83 health-care facilities damaged.
• 63 centers of primary health care impacted, with 51 forced to close, particularly in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa region.

The authors emphasize that while health-care workers and facilities are protected under international humanitarian law through the principles of distinction, proportionality, precaution, and medical neutrality, attacks on medicine have tragically become a recurring feature of contemporary armed conflict.

According to the article, these Israeli assaults undermine emergency response, obstruct access to care, and weaken already fragile health systems. Consequently, protecting health care in Lebanon is framed not only as a humanitarian imperative but as a legal and public health necessity; the repeated incidents targeting responders, ambulances, and facilities directly threaten patient survival, responder safety, and national health resilience. Ultimately, the writers argue that this situation transcends a localized humanitarian crisis, serving instead as a global call for solidarity with health-care colleagues that is deeply rooted in the core principles of medical ethics.

You may access the full article here.