One of the deadliest strikes of its sort involving Lebanese emergency responders in the war occurred Thursday when an Israeli airstrike struck an emergency response center in northeastern Lebanon, killing at least 15 rescue personnel, according to officials.
A building belonging to the civil defense agency, which is associated with the Lebanese government and not with the Iranian-backed organization Hezbollah, was damaged in the hit in Douris, close to the city of Baalbek. Bilal Raad, the city’s chief of civil defense, was among the victims, according to regional governor Bachir Khodr.
The Lebanese health ministry called the attack “barbaric,” but the Israeli military has not responded.
Search and rescue missions and firefighting responses are among the emergency services provided by the Lebanese civil defense.
