Flak jackets and final goodbyes: Lebanon’s first responders under fire

Before heading to strike sites in war-torn Lebanon, rescue workers and paramedics often say goodbye to one another – a ritual captured in widely shared videos reflecting the growing dangers faced by aid workers since hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel erupted on 2 March.

Recent attacks killed two Lebanese Red Cross volunteers: Youssef Assaf, who died during a rescue operation on 9 March, and Hassan Badawi, killed in a drone strike on 12 April.

According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), there have been 169 confirmed attacks on healthcare workers and facilities in Lebanon, resulting in 116 deaths.

Lebanese authorities say more than 3,000 people have been killed since hostilities escalated in March, with violence continuing despite the ceasefire. Hezbollah fighters based in Lebanon began shelling Israeli communities shortly after the Israeli-US bombing of Iran began; exchanges of fire continue today, with media reports indicating that 21 Israeli soldiers have been killed since 2 March.

UN News spoke with Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, OHCHR; Tommaso Della Longa, spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC); and Ali Saad from the Lebanese Red Cross. All of them agree on one thing: that first responders should never be targets.

Aid workers caught in the crossfire

From a human rights perspective, deliberately targeting medical personnel constitutes a war crime. According to OHCHR’s Mr. Al-Kheetan, the international community must do more to ensure the protection of healthcare workers in all conflicts.

The office “has documented cases where Israeli forces launched attacks involving direct strikes on civilians, including medical personnel,” he maintained, stressing that such attacks are not unprecedented, pointing to similar patterns previously documented in Gaza and in other conflicts around the world.

A ‘shocking’ sight

Describing a recent visit to Lebanon, IFRC’s Mr. Della Longa recalled the jarring sight of Red Cross volunteers putting on flak jackets and helmets before heading out to save lives.

“What shocked me most,” he said, “was seeing Lebanon lose people who are committed to humanity and to serving others.”

Mr. Della Longa explained that the details and location of Youssef Assaf and Hassan Badawi’s mission had been shared with the warring parties. They were also travelling in ambulances clearly marked with the Red Cross insignia when they were killed.

‘They are not just numbers’

“Behind every paramedic or volunteer killed, there is a family – they are not just numbers,” he said. “Hassan had a pregnant wife and a son waiting for him at home.”

For Mr. Della Longa, “hitting an ambulance and killing a humanitarian worker means weakening entire communities.”

He renewed the call for the international community to respect and protect civilians, humanitarian workers, and medical transports in accordance with international law.

Deconfliction failing on the ground

To help protect rescue teams, the Lebanese Red Cross works with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), sharing coordinates and ensuring that all belligerents are informed of the paramedics’ whereabouts. This vital work is known as deconfliction, explained Mr. Saad, a liaison coordinator with the Lebanese Red Cross.

But even with all these measures in place, rescuers have still been targeted.

“This is why the Red Cross volunteers hug each other and say goodbye before every mission,” he explained.

The killing of Youssef Assaf and Hassan Badawi still haunts their volunteer colleagues who have had no explanation why they were targeted. Such attacks – and the killing of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil on 22 April – are evidence of a “double tap” trend which is increasing, insisted Mr. Saad.

Killed carrying a stretcher

Hassan Badawi was killed in a strike while stepping out of an ambulance with a stretcher during a rescue mission in southern Lebanon, Mr. Saad said, “a drone attacked him directly leaving 300 pieces of shrapnel in his body.”

Given UNIFIL’s key deconfliction role, their impending drawdown and withdrawal from Lebanon next year is unthinkable, the Red Cross worker says: “I don’t know who will support us, but UNIFIL truly, they were international witnesses on what is going on. They might not stop the war or provide a security umbrella, but they were the only true witness to this situation.”

In the meantime, the 5,000 Red Cross volunteers will continue to go on mission and risk their lives. They can access zones located in the so-called “yellow line” – a no-go zone inside southern Lebanon created by the Israeli military last month – but cannot enter battlefield zones near the border, not even to pick up dead bodies.

“They are not military people, their only weapon is a bandage and helping people,” which should be good enough reason to protect them, Mr. Saad insists.

-ends-

STORY: Flak jackets and final goodbyes: Lebanon’s first responders under fire

TRT: 05:35”

SOURCE: UNTV CH

RESTRICTIONS: FOR BROLL PLEASE CREDIT IFRC AND LEBANESE RED CROSS.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

DATELINE: 21 MAY 2026 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Exterior wide shot flag alley Geneva.
2. SOUNDBITE (English) – Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Unfortunately, in this escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, we have documented and monitored cases where Israeli forces in Lebanon, have launched attacks that involved cases of direct attacks on civilians, including medical personnel.”
3. IFRC and Red Cross personnel April 2026, Lebanon different locations. Please credit IFRC.
4. SOUNDBITE (English) – Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “It is very important here to remind Israel and all parties that medical personnel, whether they are civilians or military, are protected under international humanitarian law and deliberately targeting civilians, deliberately targeting medical personnel is a war crime. This is why there must be investigations and accountability for any violations of international humanitarian law.”
5. IFRC and Red Cross personnel April 2026, Lebanon different locations. Please credit IFRC.
6. SOUNDBITE (English) – Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The international community needs to step up and ensure that these people are protected everywhere, in all conflicts: Ukraine, Sudan, Iran, Gaza, and of course Lebanon.”
7. IFRC and Red Cross personnel April 2026, Lebanon different locations. Please credit IFRC.
8. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tommaso Della Longa, spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC): “Sadly, this is not a new trend. I mean, we have been seeing this in different countries in the recent past. Whether is Palestine, Sudan, and recently, sadly, in Lebanon and Iran, where humanitarian workers are more and more in danger. I mean, we have been seeing numbers, that are not even comparable to the last years.”
9. IFRC and Red Cross personnel April 2026, Lebanon different locations. Please credit IFRC.
10. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tommaso Della Longa, spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC): “As we all know, 2024 was the deadliest year on record for humanitarian workers. So, of course, this is shocking first and foremost, of course, because we are losing colleagues who are committed to humanity, to serve the others. In the case of Lebanon, we lost Youssef and Hassan, two paramedics and in both cases, they were in ambulances, clear marked by the Red Cross protective emblem, their suits the same and they were even wearing flak jackets and helmets.”
11. IFRC and Red Cross personnel April 2026, Lebanon different locations. Please credit IFRC.
12. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tommaso Della Longa, spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC): “I cannot even imagine what does it mean during a CPR maneuver in an ambulance with a flak jacket and helmet but still both were killed in the line of duty. And this is pretty alarming, because it means, not only that what we have given for granted, like the protection, the respect of international humanitarian law, the respect of international laws in general, is not anymore there. But it's also alarming because, of course, hitting an ambulance, killing a humanitarian means weakening entire communities.”
13. IFRC and Red Cross personnel April 2026, Lebanon different locations. Please credit IFRC.
14. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tommaso Della Longa, spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC): “It has been very painful, first to see, women and men of the Red Cross, who has to wear gears, like flak jackets and helmets, that are used to prepare for war, not to prepare to save lives.”
15. IFRC and Red Cross personnel April 2026, Lebanon different locations (video and photos). Please credit IFRC.
16. SOUNDBITE (English) – Ali Saad, Lebanese Red Cross Liaison Coordinator with UNIFIL: “Many of our volunteers, when they go on a mission, they hug each other and they say goodbye, they might not return, because there's a lot of violation to those principles, to those protocols, to the IHL [international humanitarian law], to Geneva Conventions. As everybody knows, many of those medical and rescue teams, they're being targeted, and they lost their lives.”
17. Medium shot of a photo of Youssef Assaf. Please credit IFRC.
18. SOUNDBITE (English) – Ali Saad, Lebanese Red Cross Liaison Coordinator with UNIFIL: “On 9 March, when one of our ambulances was attacked in Majdal Zoun (Tyre) village, we lost Youssef and injured another person. His name is Ali, and he had the critical wounds at that time, and we lost Youssef after two days due to the critical injuries in hospital.”
19. Photo of Hassan Badawi. Please credit Lebanese Red Cross.
20. SOUNDBITE (English) – Ali Saad, Lebanese Red Cross Liaison Coordinator with UNIFIL: “On 12 April, another direct attack and we lost Hassan Badawi and another colleague of his, his name is Muhammad, also was injured.”
21. IFRC and Red Cross personnel April 2026, Lebanon different locations. Please credit IFRC.
22. SOUNDBITE (English) – Ali Saad, Lebanese Red Cross Liaison Coordinator with UNIFIL: “We ask why, and till now, we have got no answers, no reply and we have 5,000 similar volunteers, they always ask why.”
23. IFRC and Red Cross personnel April 2026, Lebanon different locations. Please credit IFRC.
24. SOUNDBITE (English) – Ali Saad, Lebanese Red Cross Liaison Coordinator with UNIFIL: “5,000 volunteers, they do this mission without any gain of any profit. They do it volunteering. They came, they are not military people. Their weapon is the bandage and to go and support those people who are in need.”
25. IFRC and Red Cross personnel April 2026, Lebanon different locations. Please credit IFRC.