Lebanon’s healthcare system struggling to confront increasing needs amid Israeli attack: WHO chief

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - Lebanon's healthcare system is struggling to cope with the increasing needs amid Israel's ongoing attack, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief said on Saturday.

“Out of 207 primary health care centers in conflict areas in Lebanon, 100 are now closed due to the escalation of violence. 5 hospitals have shut as a result of structural damage following attacks,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

"The attacks on health workers and facilities, which have caused almost 100 deaths, must stop," he urged.

Noting that the number of people injured is increasing, the WHO chief said the health system is struggling to cope due to limited human and resource capacity.

Ghebreyesus called for the immediate protection of patients, and health workers.

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,411 people, injuring over 3,970 others, and displacing more than 1.34 million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed nearly 42,200 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, it expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching a ground incursion into southern Lebanon.