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A strike wounded 10 staff members of a hospital in the Lebanese city of Tyre on Thursday, the facility’s director told AFP, as Israeli raids continue in the country’s south.
All three of the historic city’s hospitals have been hit since the start of the latest war between Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and Israel in early March.
“An area located around 15 meters (50 feet) from the hospital was targeted, and 10 members of the medical and administrative staff were wounded,” said Dr Salman Aydibi, who runs Hiram hospital.
He said the strike shattered windows and damaged cars parked in front of the facility.
“This is the sixth time that the area of the hospital has been targeted by Israeli raids since the start of the war,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military told the entire city of Tyre to evacuate, with an AFP correspondent witnessing residents fleeing and heavy traffic heading north after the warning.
Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Israel has since carried out a massive campaign of strikes and a ground invasion that have killed more than 3,700 people in Lebanon, while occupying a large chunk of the country’s south.
An April ceasefire in Lebanon was never observed, and the fighting has continued despite a new conditional truce deal announced last week after Lebanese Israeli talks in Washington.
Lebanon’s health ministry said late last month that an Israeli strike in the vicinity of Hiram hospital wounded 13 staffers.
The following day, an Israeli strike near Tyre’s Jabal Amel hospital killed four people and wounded 127 others, including 39 staffers, the health ministry said.
The Lebanese Italian hospital in Tyre was also damaged by an Israeli attack in April.
The health ministry says 17 hospitals have been damaged in the war, with three forced to close, and 132 rescuers and medical personnel have been killed. - AFP