Lebanon's medics vow to carry on through grief, injuries: 'These are our people'

"These medics once had their own base, but they were forced to decamp to this small hospital some eight miles from the Israeli border, after the buildings around it were hit. They joined the more the 1 million displaced by fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The new quarters are cramped and poorly equipped, but they do offer sweeping views of Nabatieh, a once-humming city in southern Lebanon that Israeli evacuation warnings and airstrikes have made a ghost town."

"During the fighting, first responders have taken precautionary steps to protect themselves. "They delay sending their units 10 to 15 minutes because they are aware of the double-tap that the Israelis will do," Suleiman said - striking a target, pausing for first responders to arrive and then attacking it again. All of Nabatieh's medics were living together because they feared being targeted while at home with their families."

"Suleiman's son, Joud, 16, and another volunteer, Ali Jaber, 22, were killed in a March airstrike while wearing their medic uniforms, Suleiman said. The team has lost three medics since the current fighting began in early March, he said. Despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire last month, Israel and Hezbollah have continued to exchange fire. Last week, Israel launched an airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs."

"Across Lebanon, more than 100 medical workers have been killed in the current fighting, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. At least 10 have died since the ceasefire took effect April 17. The Nabatieh medics are all volun"

Medics displaced from a destroyed base now operate from a small hospital near the Israeli border, serving people who cannot or will not leave Nabatieh. Volunteers eat, sleep, and pray while caring for remaining residents in cramped, poorly equipped quarters with views over a city emptied by evacuation warnings and airstrikes. First responders take precautions by delaying unit deployment to reduce exposure to “double-tap” attacks. Medics previously lived together to avoid being targeted at home with families. Several medics have been killed, including a 16-year-old and a 22-year-old volunteer during an airstrike while wearing medic uniforms. Medical workers continue to die across Lebanon despite a ceasefire, with exchanges of fire persisting.

Read at The Washington Post