Attacks on Thursday night bring total number of emergency workers killed by Israel in Lebanon to more than 200
Twenty-one civil defence rescuers have been killed in two Israeli strikes on Lebanon, in one of the deadliest days for rescue workers since the fighting began between Israel and Hezbollah 13 months ago.
Thursday night’s airstrikes brought the total number of emergency workers killed by Israel in Lebanon to more than 200, most of them during the last two months.
In Douris, a small town on the outskirts of the ancient city of Baalbek in the Bekaa valley, 15 paramedics and five bystanders were killed when an airstrike hit a state civil defence centre.
Members of the civil defence were still searching for the remains of their colleagues on Friday afternoon, turning over the shattered concrete and sifting through rubble to find whatever pieces of flesh they could salvage. Though 15 bodies had been found, at least five were unrecognisable due to the force of the blast. Funerals were put on hold until the remains could be taken for DNA testing.
“Most of the people that were here yesterday were new, they were volunteers. We were always joking around, we were like brothers … I wish I had been with them,” said Haidar al-Afi, who has worked with the civil defence in Douris since 2006, as he searched the rubble.
Israel has been striking deeper inside Lebanon since September as it escalates the war against Hezbollah. The Douris airstrike was particularly shocking because it hit a state civil defence centre that was not affiliated with Hezbollah and killed more members of the state body than perhaps any other strike before it.
