Dozens of paramedics in bright red uniforms gathered for the funeral of Youssef Assaf, a volunteer with the Lebanese Red Cross killed by an Israeli airstrike on March 9 while responding to a strike in Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon. His seaside procession in Tyre drew hundreds of first responders as his mother’s cries echoed through the march.
Lebanese authorities say at least 54 health workers are among more than 1,400 people killed by Israel during the current campaign. Human rights groups and Lebanese officials argue that first responders and medical personnel are being targeted; Israel denies intentional targeting of health workers.
The Red Cross says it follows a protocol of sending ambulance coordinates to U.N. peacekeepers, who then notify Israel. That procedure was followed on March 9, and Assaf was killed after stepping out of his ambulance to aid the wounded and a second strike struck the scene. Alexy Nehme, director of emergency medical services at the Lebanese Red Cross, said he lodged a complaint and asked why their teams were hit, but received no reply.
The Israeli military told NPR it struck a “Hezbollah military-use building” that day and that “some people” arrived between the firing of munitions and impact, but that Red Cross personnel were not intentionally targeted. The military said it was unaware of Red Cross presence and did not intend to strike them.
Lebanese officials, former health ministers and rights organizations see a pattern. Former Lebanese health minister Dr. Firass Abiad said the killing of 10 first responders within about 24 hours makes it difficult to call the incidents accidental. Lebanon’s current health minister, Rakan Nassereddine, and the World Health Organization reported 10 health workers killed over the weekend of March 28–29; Nassereddine said he has begun preparing a legal file to submit to the U.N. Security Council.
Human Rights Watch cautions it is early to draw firm conclusions about the current war, but notes Israel has previously targeted health workers in Gaza and Lebanon. HRW documented three 2024 attacks — on paramedics at a civil defense center in Beirut, and on an ambulance and a hospital in southern Lebanon — that killed 14 paramedics and described the incidents as apparent war crimes, saying it found no evidence those medical teams or facilities were being used for military purposes. Amnesty International echoed concerns, accusing Israel of using a “same deadly playbook” of unlawful attacks on healthcare without accountability. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged that attacks on health facilities must cease immediately.
Israel maintains it abides by the laws of war but says legal protections for health workers can be revoked when “misuse” occurs, accusing Hezbollah of exploiting medical teams and facilities and of transporting weapons in ambulances as part of wider “systematic exploitation of civilian infrastructure.” Many of the first responders killed have belonged to units run by Islamic political groups, including Hezbollah’s own ambulance service, which—unlike the Red Cross—does not notify Israel of movements.
Mohammed Farhat, operations director for the Islamic Health Authority, which includes Hezbollah’s ambulance service, described working under the threat of so-called “double-tap” strikes—where an initial strike hits a target, and a follow-up strike hits responders who arrive later. Israel denies a policy of targeting responders but says it sometimes conducts additional strikes when the initial objective was not achieved. Farhat rejects accusations that his teams transport weapons and says his organization has lost many colleagues who deserved legal protection as health workers regardless of political affiliation.
First responders have altered tactics to try to reduce risk. Farhat said crews now sometimes wait and send smaller advance teams to assess a scene rather than dispatching large groups immediately. Still, he said, instinct and compassion often drive them to rush to aid the wounded, especially children.
At the Lebanese Red Cross control room in southern Beirut, dispatchers handle roughly 1,500 calls a day. Lead dispatcher George Ghafary described staying on the phone with callers who suffered severe trauma until ambulances reached them. He said such calls haunt him, and that sending colleagues into dangerous areas weighs heavily: he tracks teams by GPS and keeps communication open by phone and walkie-talkie, hoping the line does not go silent.