Four Lebanese hospitals suspend services amid Israeli bombing

At least four hospitals in Lebanon announce the suspension of work amid ongoing Israeli bombardment, while Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers said 11 personnel were killed in Israeli raids in south Lebanon against the terror group.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has urged the international community to pressure Israel “to allow rescue and relief teams to reach bombed sites and allow them to move” casualties, with several dozen emergency personnel killed in recent days.

Sainte Therese Hospital on the edge of Beirut’s southern suburbs reported “huge damage” and said “Israeli warplanes’ targeting… the vicinity” of the facility on Thursday “led to the halt of hospital services,” in a statement carried by the official National News Agency (NNA).

South Lebanon’s Mais al-Jabal hospital on the border with Israel announced “the halt to work of all departments,” citing factors including “enemy targeting of the hospital” since last October and problems for supply lines and staff access.

The comment also comes in a statement on the NNA.

The director of south Lebanon’s Marjayoun governmental hospital, Mouenes Kalakesh, tells AFP that “an Israeli air strike targeted ambulances at the main entrance to the hospital,” killing paramedics who were bringing wounded to the facility.

He says the “staff shortages and today’s bombardment have forced the closure of the hospital,” located less than 10 kilometers (six miles) from the border.

The Islamic Health Committee emergency service, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, said seven emergency personnel died in “direct Zionist aggression on emergency teams” at the Marjayoun hospital, with four others killed in two attacks elsewhere in south Lebanon.