BEIRUT — At least 12 paramedics from civil defense teams were killed on Thursday night in an Israeli airstrike on their center in Duris, a village in Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, Lebanese news website Elnashra reported.
According to Elnashra, Baalbek Governor Bachir Khodor said that the bodies of 12 civil defense members were recovered from under the rubble, and the debris removal process is still ongoing. He added that around 20 paramedics were at the center during the airstrike.
“Contact is lost with the head of the regional civil defense center in Baalbek, Bilal Raad,” he was quoted as saying.
Since Sept. 23, the Israeli military has intensified airstrikes on Lebanon in an escalation of conflict with Hezbollah. Israel also launched a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon in early October.
As of Thursday, the death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since the beginning of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Oct. 8, 2023, has reached 3,386, while injuries went up to 14,417.
XINHUA