Beirut, Lebanon – Israel’s attacks on Lebanon are putting a massive strain on the Lebanese healthcare system, in what experts and analysts say is part of an effort to force people out of the south of the country.One month into the latest intensification of strikes on Lebanon, Israel has killed 53 medical workers, destroyed 87 ambulances or medical centres, and forced the closure of five hospitals, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.“Israeli strikes and blanket evacuation orders are cutting people off from care and shrinking the space for health services to function,” Luna Hammad, the Lebanon medical coordinator for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), told Al Jazeera, adding that MSF has seen “a documented pattern of attacks affecting healthcare”.Displacement fuelled by destruction of healthcareOn March 2, Israel intensified its war on Lebanon again after Hezbollah responded to Israeli attacks for the first time in more than a year.The Iranian-backed group Hezbollah claimed the attack was retaliation for the US-Israel assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei two days earlier. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah had ostensibly been in place since November 27, 2024, despite more than 10,000 recorded Israeli ceasefire violations by the United Nations, and the killing of hundreds of Lebanese.Israel used the Hezbollah attack as justification to expand its strikes across L …
