Israeli strikes kill four paramedics in southern Lebanon

Three successive Israeli attacks have killed at least four paramedics in southern Lebanon, according to officials and media reports, as rescue workers responded to an airstrike in the town of Mayfadoun in the Nabatieh region on Wednesday.

A team from the Islamic Health Association was attacked as it attempted to rescue people from the site of an initial Israeli strike, according to the Lebanese health ministry. One paramedic was killed and a second remains missing from this first response.

When a second team from the Islamic Health Association arrived at the scene, it too was struck, and three paramedics were wounded, the ministry said. As other emergency workers began evacuating their wounded colleagues, two ambulances from the Risala Scout Association and the Nabatieh Ambulance Service were hit in two further consecutive attacks.

The sequence of strikes resulted in additional casualties among the rescue workers. One paramedic was shown covering his ears and screaming while convulsing in pain as shrapnel shattered the back window of an ambulance during the attacks.

Lebanese officials characterized the attacks as a "flagrant crime" and accused Israel of deliberately targeting health workers in its military operations against Hezbollah. The pattern of strikes—hitting initial responders and then targeting those attempting rescue operations—has been described as a "quadruple tap" attack by some observers.

The incident occurred as rescue operations were underway in Mayfadoun on Wednesday afternoon. Some paramedics had initially held back from responding, having previously witnessed colleagues killed in similar double-tap attacks targeting rescuers, but the Islamic Health Association team proceeded to the scene.

The attacks resulted in multiple casualties and injuries among the emergency personnel deployed to assist those affected by the initial Israeli airstrike in the town.