Red Cross calls consecutive Israeli strikes in Lebanon 'gravely concerning'

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was deeply concerned by attacks on medical workers in Lebanon after a deadly strike on a Red Cross centre in the country's south on Monday and the death of a volunteer a day earlier.

Lebanon's state news agency reported that Monday's strike, which it said was carried out by Israel, killed one person and damaged Lebanese Red Cross vehicles.

The ICRC said the Lebanese Red Cross centre in the southern coastal district of Tyre was hit by the strike. It did not comment on who was responsible or give details of the victim.

Israel's military claimed it had carried out a targeted strike on a Hezbollah member in Tyre on Monday and was "investigating" reports the strike had caused damage to a Red Cross centre. The military did not identify the individual it said it killed.

On Sunday, the Lebanese Red Cross said one of its volunteers, Hassan Badawi, had died from his injuries after a strike by an Israeli drone in the district of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon.

Badawi had volunteered for the Lebanese Red Cross since 2022, his friend Ahmed Qassam told Reuters during his funeral on Monday.

He was buried in a temporary grave in Choueifat, a town south of Beirut, as it was not possible to access Badawi's home village of Sultaniyah in Bint Jbeil district, due to intensive fighting there. Israeli troops on Monday launched an attack to seize the key border town in southern Lebanon.

"I was waiting for a phone call from him to tell me, 'Mother, I'm fine.' He didn't call me. My heart was burning," Badawi's mother, Ahlam Badawi, said.

"They (the Israeli military) attacked him directly. He was just doing humanitarian work. He was not doing anything more," Badawi's father, Ali Badawi, added.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Agnes Dhur, head of the ICRC delegation in Lebanon, said in a statement on Monday: "The loss of those who dedicate their lives to saving others is gravely concerning, given the impact on the civilians who depend on their help."

"Humanitarian and medical personnel must be protected. They must be allowed to reach and help the wounded, and return unharmed," she added.

The latest war in Lebanon began on March 2, when Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired at Israeli positions in support of its patron Iran. Israel had already been violating a 2024 ceasefire with near-daily attacks on Lebanon.

Israel has since escalated its air and ground campaign ‌in the ⁠country where its operations have killed more than 2,000 people, displaced more than 1 million, and triggered a warning that some hospitals in the south could run out of life-saving supplies.