Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon — The Israeli army announced Tuesday that it had killed Hachem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council who was seen as a possible next leader of the group, in an airstrike in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiya three years ago. weeks. It was just days after the Israeli military killed the longtime leader of the Iran-backed terrorist group designated by the United States and Israel. Hassan Nasrallah in another airstrike in Lebanon.
Many of the group’s leaders have been killed over the past month and a half, including three other commanders this week, but the fighting still rages in Lebanon. Lebanese Health Ministry says nearly 2,000 people killed from Israel intensified its assault on Hezbollah in mid-September.
There were more airstrikes on Beirut overnight, and with each one, first aid teams jumped into ambulances and headed straight for the reduced buildings. CBS News met with some medical workers who are risking their own lives to save people in the war zone.
While rushing toward danger is second nature to them, Hussein Fakih, who leads the rescue team in the southern town of Nabatiyeh, less than 10 miles from the Israeli border, says he and his fellow doctors are deliberately targeted by Israeli forces. He was seriously injured by an Israeli missile that struck near their base.
CBS News/Agnès Reau
He said that in the months following October 8, 2023, when Israel began bombing Hezbollah targets in response to the group’s incessant rocket and drone launches against Israel – more than 13,000 over the last year, according to the IDF – his team did not feel directly threatened. But Fakih said that has changed more recently and the IDF “started directly targeting the places where the teams work. More than once.
“Our vehicles are clearly marked with the internationally recognized symbols for first responders,” he said, but this does not appear to offer any protection.
Fakih’s nephew, Hussein Jaber, is also a rescuer. Seeing so many deaths up close was difficult for him, and even harder when it was one of his own.
The “worst day,” he said, was last week, when an Israeli strike hit near their base, injuring his colleague Naji Fahs.
“He was married and had two children. He was about 50 years old,” Jaber said. “He was a few meters from me. Unfortunately, he was injured in an airstrike right next to our station and died. May he rest in peace. »
Fakih told CBS News that eight members of his team were killed and 35 injured in the last month alone, “and 90 percent of our equipment was hit and broken.”
“Our job is to help people,” Jaber said. “To keep them safe… Our colleagues are dead and our friends are injured, and we were injured too, but we will continue to help people and protect their livelihoods. In fact, it gives us more incentive to continue our humanitarian mission.
CBS News
As CBS News finished interviewing Jaber, there was a strike nearby. Duty called, and just like that, Jaber was gone.
Two hours later, he rushed to another emergency scene.
“Is anyone there?” » » he shouted into the pile of rubble. He and his colleagues removed 12 bodies from the rubble.
Shortly after completing this grim work, Jaber was injured in another Israeli strike.
CBS News
His injuries were minor and the team was so short-staffed that he immediately returned to work.
According to UN humanitarian agencies, at least 87 health workers had been killed in the country as of October 10, and ambulances and aid centers had been “targeted or hit in Lebanon, causing further casualties.” By CBS News’ own tally, the death toll stands at at least 120.
CBS News asked the IDF about civil defense teams’ claims that they were directly targeted. In a statement, the military said it “operates in strict accordance with international law.” It must be emphasized, however, that Hezbollah illegally integrates its military assets into densely populated civilian areas and cynically exploits civilian infrastructure for terrorist purposes.”
The Israeli military said, as it has repeatedly regarding its operations in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, that it was making “all possible efforts to mitigate harm caused to civilians during operational activities.” », notably by giving “prior warnings to civilians in Lebanon where Hezbollah is established”. its military means and weapons.
Although the IDF often issues evacuation orders before strikes, rescuers and Lebanese civilians told CBS News that such warnings were unnecessary. not always issued before the missiles hit residential areas.
Real Tucker
contributed to this report.
Débora Patta
