21 April 2026 - The war in Lebanon, now under a fragile 10-day ceasefire, has had a devastating impact on Lebanon’s healthcare system and staff. Bombings by Israeli forces killed and injured people, while attacks on first responders and in the vicinity of hospitals put healthcare workers at risk, leaving many wounded and killed. Despite this, Lebanese health workers continued to provide life-saving care under immense pressure.
In southern Lebanon, healthcare staff working around the clock responded to a near-daily influx of the injured and killed being brought to the hospital. Patients, including children, arrived with severe injuries including heavy bleeding, traumatic amputations, and complex wounds. Healthcare workers often feared the injured could include family members or people they knew.
“Healthcare staff in Nabatiyeh’s hospitals slept inside the hospitals for a total of 46 days,” says Tania Hachem, MSF Medical Programme Manager. “Some couldn’t go to see their families, while others had relatives staying with them in the hospital.”
In Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon, thousands were forcibly displaced following the Israeli forces’ massive bombardment and blanket evacuation orders. Yet, many families chose to stay behind, and healthcare workers remained at their posts to keep life-saving services running. At the Nabatiyeh Governmental Hospital, around 42 families, medical staff and their children, sheltered inside. Just a few kilometres away, staff at the Najdeh Chaabiye Hospital were also responding to mass casualty events while sheltering inside the facility. Movement within the city was extremely dangerous due to ongoing strikes by Israel forces, and even obtaining basic supplies required ambulances to travel to other cities.
“Part of our emergency-preparedness plan was for everyone to remain inside the hospital, so no one had to go back and forth. Doctors slept here, and their children stayed with them,” explains Dr Mona abu Zeid, Director of the Najdeh Chaabiye Hospital, Nabatiyeh, who also stayed at the hospital throughout the escalation. Patients injured by Israeli strikes would be brought in with devastating injuries, heavy bleeding and life-altering wounds. “Sometimes children would come to the hospital with both their parents killed.”
From 02 March until the ceasefire, the World Health Organization reported almost daily attacks on healthcare – a total of 147 - damaging hospitals, killing more than 100, and injuring 233 health care workers, including cases where teams were struck during repeated attacks on the same locations while responding to injured patients. At least six hospitals were forced to close, while many others sustained damage.
At Nabatiyeh Governmental Hospital, just hours after speaking with a paramedic, Dr Ahmad Zreik received the body of his colleague - killed. "We spent the morning outside together, just chatting,” says Dr Ahmad. “Then he left to respond to an emergency. He suffered severe trauma and was killed as a result. We had just seen him that very morning; we had just spent time together. Imagine, you see someone and everything is perfectly normal, until suddenly it isn't. He was a paramedic. He left and never came back. He returned in body, but without his soul."
Hospitals supported by MSF in Sour and Nabatiyeh sustained some damage due to strikes in close proximity. In Sour, medical staff at Hiram Hospital were wounded by shards of glass; in the Lebanese Italian Hospital, bombing nearby damaged medical equipment including kidney dialysis machines, and in Jabel Amel Hospital medical staff swept up glass and reinforced windows after they were shattered by the force of the blasts.
The 10-day temporary ceasefire remains fragile. Healthcare workers in hospitals are trying to rest as well as prepare in case hostilities resume. MSF continues to support hospitals, including Jabal Amel, the Lebanese Italian in Sour/Tyre, Nabatiyeh Governmental Hospital and Najdeh al Shaabiyeh Hospital, as well as Rafik Hariri Hospital and Baalbek Governmental Hospital amongst others, with donations, as well as trauma and emergency care.
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