At least six health workers were killed in Israeli attacks in southern and eastern Lebanon on October 31, 2024, as strikes continued around the ancient city of Baalbek and nearby areas in the Beqaa Valley.
According to Al Jazeera's reporting from the packet, Lebanon's Ministry of Health said four medics were killed when Israeli forces struck a gathering point for civil defence workers. Two more medics were killed in separate incidents, bringing the day's health-worker death toll to six and the number wounded to four. The National News Agency said Israeli aircraft launched four strikes on the village of Douris and the surroundings of Baalbek.
The ministry also said an attack in the town of Salaa destroyed an ambulance, though the paramedic operating it survived. The same reporting says the number of paramedics killed since the beginning of Israel's attacks on Lebanon had risen to 178, with 279 wounded and 246 vehicles hit.
The strikes came during a broader escalation. Israel also bombarded the al-Housh area of Tyre in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israel the same day. The exchange of fire produced deaths on both sides: Israeli emergency services said a rocket launched from Lebanon killed two people in northern Israel, and Israeli media reported five people killed in Metula, including an Israeli farmer and four foreign workers.
The report also places the violence against the backdrop of ceasefire diplomacy. US envoy Amos Hochstein and Middle East adviser Brett McGurk were in Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu said any ceasefire deal with Hezbollah would need to guarantee Israeli security, while Gallant said the discussions focused on security arrangements in the north and on efforts to return hostages still held in Gaza.
In Beirut, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati described Israel's evacuation orders as a war crime. He said the pressure on civilians to leave entire cities was another in a series of crimes that included killing, destruction and sabotage.
The same day, Al Jazeera said its Sanad verification team confirmed footage showing the moment of the bombing and smoke rising from the area. That visual confirmation strengthens the account of a heavy attack around Baalbek, though the casualty figures in the packet come from Lebanon's Ministry of Health and the National News Agency.
What emerges from the report is a conflict where the people closest to rescue and recovery are increasingly among the dead. Medics, ambulance crews and civil defence workers are no longer only responding to war; they are becoming some of its most frequent victims.
