Beirut, 3 October 2024 (dpa/MIA) - A Lebanese soldier was killed in the southern town of Taybeh in an Israeli attack on Thursday, with another soldier killed shortly afterwards in an attack in Bint Jbeil, in the first army deaths since the start of the Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon.

The Taybeh attack took place while troops were carrying out an evacuation and rescue mission along with the Lebanese Red Cross, the army said. Initial reports said another soldier was injured.

The Red Cross said members of its ambulance and emergency team were also injured in the attack.

Local journalists reported that the Red Cross convoy was attacked despite an agreement with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) observer mission, which has been monitoring the border area between Israel and Lebanon for decades.

So far, more than 100 medical workers and firefighters have been killed and 220 injured in Israeli attacks in Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad said.

The attacks hit nine hospitals, 45 other medical centres and almost 130 ambulances and firefighting vehicles, he said, without specifying a time frame for these figures.

In the past three days alone, however, more than 40 medical workers and firefighters were killed, he added.

"This is a violation of international laws and treaties, and it is a war crime, there is no doubt," he told reporters.

The latest deaths come amid growing fears the Middle East could slip into all-out war after the Iranian missile barrage on Israel earlier this week and with fronts already open in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip as the Jewish state battles Islamist groups Hezbollah and Hamas, both allied with Tehran.

Photo: EPA