Heba Nasser
Middle East Eye / March 14, 2026
Attack on health centre killed doctors, nurses and paramedics.
An Israeli strike killed 17 medical staff in a direct attack on a primary healthcare centre in southern Lebanon, health authorities said on Saturday.
Doctors, nurses and paramedics were among those killed in the attack late on Friday in the border village of Burj Qalawiyeh in the Bint Jbeil district.
Lebanon’s health ministry accused Israel of repeatedly “targeting ambulance crews while they were performing rescue duties”, saying that 31 paramedics have been killed since the war erupted on 2 March.
The Israeli military has accused Hezbollah of using ambulances for military purposes.
The army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, warned that Israel would act against any Hezbollah military use of medical facilities or ambulances.
Israel has carried out daily strikes and incursions in Lebanon since Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader on the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran, now entering its third week.
Nearly 1 million people have been displaced by Israel’s bombing campaign and daily expulsion orders affecting southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut, covering roughly 1,470 sq km.
About 14 percent of Lebanon’s territory is currently under orders for residents to leave their homes, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Lebanon’s health ministry said on Saturday that Israeli strikes have killed 826 people, including 65 women and 106 children, since the start of the war.
The ministry added that 2,009 others have been wounded.
On Friday night, a couple and their four children, including a baby, were killed in a strike on their home in the southern city of Nabatieh.
Earlier, Israel destroyed a bridge over the Litani River, which bisects southern Lebanon from east to west.
The Israeli military described the bridge as a “key crossing” for Hezbollah but provided no evidence.
The attack was the first on Lebanese public infrastructure to be acknowledged by Israel since the start of the current war.
Israel also dropped leaflets in Beirut threatening Gaza-scale devastation and warned of more attacks on the country’s infrastructure.
“The Lebanese government… will pay increasing costs through damage to infrastructure and loss of territory” until Hezbollah is disarmed, Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
Heba Nasser is a news editor at Middle East Eye
