During the recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon, particularly since 1 March 2026, Israel has directly targeted medical teams, hospitals, and health units, including ambulance teams of the Lebanese Red Cross. These attacks have resulted in injuries among medical personnel and recently led to the killing of a Lebanese Red Cross paramedic. According to Megaphone News, at least 14 paramedics were killed during the first week of these attacks. On 14 March 2026 alone, an Israeli strike on a health center in southern Lebanon killed at least 12 medical workers, while direct threats were also issued against ambulances operating in Lebanon, in clear violation of international humanitarian law. The World Health Organization has also warned that Lebanon’s health system is under severe strain due to the repeated targeting of health facilities, noting that more than 54 health facilities across the country have been forced to close, including 5 hospitals and 49 primary healthcare centers. 

In this context, Israel appears to be resorting to what is known as the “double-tap” tactic, in which two consecutive strikes are carried out at the same location. The second strike occurs at a time when paramedics and medical teams gather to provide first aid to the wounded or evacuate those killed in the initial strike. This practice effectively targets medical personnel, increases the risk of injury and death among them, and seriously undermines the ability of emergency response teams to carry out their duties in the country. 

What Lebanon is currently witnessing - bombardment, destruction, and threats against hospitals, ambulances, and medical personnel - does not merely constitute a violation of international humanitarian law but may rise to the level of a war crime (1). International humanitarian law provides special protection for civilian objects and prohibits the targeting of medical facilities, supplies, transportation, and hospitals, whether civilian or military, in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. 

Under international humanitarian law, the protection granted to medical personnel is not limited to state-affiliated medical services such as civil defense. It also extends to various organizations and associations working in emergency medical response and the provision of medical services (2). This protection is even stronger for non-profit associations and civilian paramedics (3). Accordingly, Israel may have committed war crimes and violated the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols by targeting ambulances and medical personnel affiliated with non-governmental associations working in rescue and emergency response. 

Even if hospitals or medical units are located near military sites, this does not relieve the attacking party of its obligation to respect and protect medical units (4). Lebanon’s small geographical size and the density of its coastal cities make it practically impossible to maintain large distances between hospitals and military facilities. 

Israel has also claimed that some medical facilities or medical transport have been used for military purposes, such as transporting fighters or weapons or gathering intelligence. However, such claims do not justify directly targeting them for several reasons: 

First, Israel has not provided any reliable evidence demonstrating that any Lebanese party has misused these medical facilities or means of transport. 

Second, even for the sake of legal argument, if we assume that some medical facilities or transport were used for military purposes such as intelligence gathering or storing weapons, such actions would not amount to direct participation in hostilities. Even if these facilities were to lose their special protection as medical objects (5), they would still remain civilian objects and therefore remain protected from direct attack (6). 

Third, claims that such facilities are used for direct military operations, such as launching rockets, are implausible given the nature and humanitarian function of these facilities—whether hospitals housing patients and medical staff, or ambulances with limited capacity designed solely to transport the wounded. 

Fourth, even under the hypothetical scenario—which we have already demonstrated to be highly unlikely—that these facilities were used for direct military operations such as launching rockets, international humanitarian law would only allow them to be targeted after a prior warning has been issued, specifying a reasonable time limit for the cessation of such use, and only if that warning remains unheeded, as stipulated in the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols (7). 

The Lebanese Center for Human Rights also stresses the principle of proportionality (8), which is a fundamental principle of international humanitarian law. This principle prohibits launching an attack if it is expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, or damage to civilian objects that would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated. Accordingly, any bombardment that simultaneously results in civilian deaths or the destruction of civilian infrastructure in a manner disproportionate to the expected military gain constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes. 

In light of the above, the Lebanese Center for Human Rights condemns the violations of international humanitarian law committed by Israel in Lebanon, particularly the deliberate and repeated targeting of medical personnel and the endangerment of their lives. These attacks demonstrate a clear disregard for the special protection granted to medical personnel and facilities under international humanitarian law. Targeting those who provide urgent medical care not only endangers first responders but also severely obstructs emergency response efforts and reduces the ability to save lives in critical moments. Deliberately obstructing the provision of medical assistance poses a grave threat to civilian safety and undermines the fundamental principles of human dignity and protection in situations of conflict. 

Accordingly, the Lebanese Center for Human Rights calls for the following: 

  • Judicial monitoring and documentation of all violations committed against medical personnel and health sector workers in Lebanon. 

  • A clear diplomatic condemnation by the Lebanese government and the international community of the attacks targeting medical personnel and healthcare facilities in Lebanon. 

  • Independent and impartial judicial investigations into the deliberate targeting of medical personnel, facilities, and vehicles. 

  • Accountability measures against individuals or states, such as Israel, responsible for attacks on medical personnel, in accordance with international law. 

  • Strengthening protection measures to ensure the safety of medical personnel working in conflict areas, including the provision of resources and security guarantees to allow them to continue their humanitarian work. 

  • Ensuring immediate and unhindered humanitarian access for medical teams to reach affected populations. 

  • Recognizing the ICC mandate and filing a case against Israel over alleged war crimes in Lebanon.  

  • Issuing a clear condemnation by the UN Security Council over the Israeli attacks on Lebanon 

  • The suspension of military aid to the Israeli government.

 

Sources:

(1) Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

(2) Article 26 of the First Geneva Convention - Article 8 of Additional Protocol I

(3) Louis BALMOND, Droit international humanitaire, Breal, 2020, p 69.  

(4) Article 19 of the First Geneva Convention - Article 18 of the Fourth Geneva Convention - Article 12 of Additional Protocol I - Rule 28 of Customary International Humanitarian Law

(5) Article 21 of the First Geneva Convention - Article 19 of the Fourth Geneva Convention

(6) Nils Melzer, International Humanitarian Law: A Comprehensive Introduction, International Committee of the Red Cross, 2016.

(7) Article 21 of the First Geneva Convention - Article 19(1) of the Fourth Geneva Convention - Article 13(1) of Additional Protocol I

(8) Articles 51(5)(b), 57(a)(iii), and 57(b) of Additional Protocol I - Rules 14, 18, and 19 of Customary International Humanitarian Law