BEIRUT: Wael Mousawi, a 35-year-old Civil Defense responder in Tyre, says he has spent weeks moving “between death and death,” pulling bodies from the rubble of flattened homes in southern Lebanon as rescue teams struggled to keep pace with the scale of destruction.
Paramedics and rescue workers across the country have been caught in the crossfire of the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah, rushing into areas civilians are fleeing, searching for survivors and navigating roads cratered by airstrikes.
The dangers have slowed rescue efforts, leaving victims trapped beneath rubble for days and further straining already stretched healthcare systems.
“There was no protection for paramedics,” Mousawi told Arab News. “We kept going because people depended on us. These were our communities — our families, our friends.”
First responders carry a body recovered from the rubble into an ambulance at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on April 8, 2026. (AFP)
Within minutes of major strikes, hospitals and rescue teams were overwhelmed with casualties, many suffering severe injuries caused by collapsing buildings — a pattern paramedics and doctors say has defined the conflict.
“It was rare to find survivors under collapsed buildings,” Mousawi said. “The weapons used were devastating. In many places, bodies remain buried under the rubble because it was impossible to retrieve them.”
Rescue teams were often forced to withdraw mid-operation due to renewed strikes or the threat of follow-up attacks. In other cases, they faced impossible choices, pulling out those they could reach while leaving others behind because of urgent needs elsewhere.
“One of the hardest moments is knowing there are people still under the rubble, and you have to leave,” Mousawi said.
FASTFACTS:
• Lebanese Red Cross says its teams operate under principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence, that paramedics are protected under international law.
• Israel accuses Hezbollah of “cynical and systematic use of medical infrastructure and civilians for military purposes.”
Lebanese authorities and humanitarian organizations say dozens of paramedics have been killed and hundreds injured during the conflict, which lasted more than six weeks before a 10-day ceasefire took effect on Thursday.
According to official figures, 67 paramedics affiliated with the Islamic Health Authority were killed and more than 150 injured, while 73 ambulances and 17 emergency centers were damaged.
Civil Defense and Red Cross teams also reported casualties, alongside repeated strikes on clearly marked emergency vehicles.
The Lebanese Health Ministry described the targeting of paramedics as a “war crime,” citing recorded attacks on rescue teams in the southern town of Mayfadoun while responding to strikes days before the ceasefire.
In one case, a paramedic team was hit while attempting to evacuate casualties, triggering further rescue attempts that were also struck, resulting in additional deaths and injuries.
In another, two paramedics — Ali Jaber and Jawad Suleiman — were killed in late March while traveling on a clearly marked rescue motorcycle.
Mourners carry the coffin of Youssef Assaf, a Lebanese Red Cross volunteer killed during a rescue mission in southern Lebanon, at his funeral in Tyre on March 11, 2026. (AFP)
The Lebanese Red Cross said its teams were operating under internationally recognized humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence, stressing that paramedics are protected under international law.
It condemned the attacks as “clear violations,” emphasizing that paramedics are not military targets and must be protected under international conventions.
Israel, however, has accused Hezbollah of using ambulances to transport fighters and weapons — an allegation the group denies.
In a late-March incident, the the Israel military said it had “struck a cell of Hezbollah military operatives who were dressed as paramedics and operated near an ambulance in southern Lebanon.”
An ambulance is pictured amid the rubble of destroyed buildings at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on March 5, 2026. (AFP)
“The military operatives targeted in the strike systematically used ambulances to transfer weapons between northern to southern Lebanon, as part of ongoing terrorist activities, using the ambulances to conduct terror attacks against IDF soldiers and the State of Israel,” the military said.
“In the past month alone, dozens of rockets have been launched toward the State of Israel and at IDF soldiers from areas in which these terrorists operated, while they exploited ambulances and medical infrastructure for military purposes.”
It added: “The use of ambulances and medical teams to conceal terrorist activities constitutes a severe violation of international law. Under IDF directives and in accordance with international law, medical teams are afforded special protection, provided they do not engage in hostile acts outside their humanitarian duties and subject to the conditions established under the law.”
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the war when it launched rockets into northern Israel on March 2. Israel’s retaliation has since killed more than 2,200 people, wounded 7,000 others, and displaced around 1.2 million — with many forced to live in tents.
Under the truce terms announced on Thursday, Israel said it would retain the right to strike Hezbollah to stop “planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks,” while maintaining a 10-km security buffer along southern Lebanon’s border.
Details released by the US State Department say Lebanon “with international support ... will take meaningful steps to prevent Hezbollah” from carrying out attacks.
Hezbollah, heavily hit by Israeli airstrikes and ground operations, has signaled it will adhere to the ceasefire unless Lebanon comes under attack again. “The fighters will keep their finger on the trigger because they are wary of the enemy’s treachery,” the group said.
The ceasefire is seen as part of a broader diplomatic push tied to US-Iran negotiations.
A first responder inspects the damaged interiors of an Amal Movement Al-Risala Medical Facility building after an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Al-Bazouriyah, on April 12, 2026. (AFP)
US President Donald Trump said Washington and Tehran were “very close” to reaching a deal, adding he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun ahead of the truce.
In a statement on Thursday, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the ceasefire and commended the role played by Aoun, Salam, and parliament speaker Nabih Berri.
“The Kingdom reaffirms its support for the Lebanese state in extending its sovereignty, ensuring that arms remain exclusively in the hands of the state and its legitimate institutions, undertaking reform steps, and for its efforts to preserve Lebanon’s resources, territorial integrity and safety,” the statement added.
Responding to the ceasefire, Mairav Zonszein, senior Israel analyst at International Crisis Group, said: “While negotiations between Lebanon and Israel are a historic opportunity, the prospects of achieving a lasting peace or even a viable security agreement still seem remote.
“Nevertheless, a diplomatic track that strengthens the Lebanese government and sees a gradual withdrawal of Israeli presence will contribute to weakening Hezbollah politically.”
Back on the ground, Mousawi says the scale of destruction is difficult to comprehend. Entire areas south of the Litani River have been reduced to rubble, with buildings, roads, and infrastructure flattened.
First responders carry a body into an ambulance at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Abbasiyeh, on the outskirts of Tyre, on April 15, 2026.
His work has come at a personal cost. Mousawi’s father, also an emergency first responder in the Civil Defense, was killed during a recent rescue operation. His brother now serves in the army.
“We never had a moment of rest,” Mousawi said. “Even while drinking water or eating, we stayed on alert, ready to respond to the next strike.”
In the days leading up to the ceasefire, he said there were no longer any evacuation warnings ahead of strikes. UNIFIL peacekeepers in the south were also among those killed, according to the UN.
Despite the carnage, some residents have chosen to return even under bombardment. “Many families had nowhere else to go and couldn’t afford to rent places to stay in. They chose to risk death in their villages rather than face displacement,” said Mousawi.
When the ceasefire took effect, paramedics shifted from rescue operations to organizing the return of displaced residents, issuing safety guidance via social media and warning of ongoing risks despite the relative calm.
People watch the restoration work at the site of Israeli strikes that targeted the Qasmieh bridge built over the Litani river in the southern Lebanese area of Al Qasmiyeh on April 17, 2026, as displaced residents prepare to travel back to their homes.
At the entrances to Beirut’s southern suburbs, in Sidon, and along roads leading to accessible villages north of the Litani River, paramedics urged residents to wait until daylight, confirm routes were safe, avoid damaged buildings, check for gas leaks or electrical hazards, use clean water, keep children away from debris, and report suspicious objects immediately.
They also advised travelers to ensure their vehicles had enough fuel due to the lack of functioning stations in heavily targeted areas.
Despite the ceasefire, the psychological toll on paramedics remains immense.
“There was no time for emotion,” Mousawi said. “Our minds had to guide us through fire, smoke and blood. We could not collapse because people depended on us.
“This time, everything — people and homes — was destroyed.”
