Caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad indicated that everyone in the health sector participated in the past two days in providing assistance, as a result of the explosion of communications devices following the Israeli aggression on Lebanon on September 17 and 18 in various Lebanese regions.
He announced, in a press conference on the response to the security situation, that “the number of martyrs for September 17 is still 12, while the number of wounded is 2,323 after verification,” noting that “824 of the wounded were treated in the emergency room and returned to their homes; 156 needed to be admitted to the hospital for observation and were discharged after twenty-four hours; 1,343 wounded with moderate and severe injuries, including 226 who are still in intensive care and 1,117 cases in regular rooms for the purpose of convalescence after the operations they underwent, or awaiting additional operations they need.”
Al-Abyad said: “955 surgeries were performed and there are additional surgeries that will be performed,” adding, “The next day, September 18, witnessed explosions of wireless devices that were larger than the previous day (pager), which led to severe injuries and more harm to the injured.”
In this context, he stated that “the latest toll from the Ministry of Health for what happened on September 18 is 25 martyrs and 608 wounded, including 360 who were treated in the emergency room and returned to their homes; 187 were admitted to the hospital in stable condition, and 61 are still in intensive care,” adding, “141 surgeries have been performed so far.”
Al-Abyad said that he “does not want to comment on security and political matters, but it is certain that the attack that took place is considered a war crime, as the majority of the injuries were recorded in civilian areas and not on the battlefield, and the government is doing its duty and has called for a meeting of the UN Security Council, and human rights organizations are doing their duty on this issue.”
The Minister of Public Health was keen to raise the “issue of the dues of hospitals and doctors”, noting that the efforts made following the Beirut Port explosion are still unpaid, and despite this, the health system did not hesitate to provide the service in a commendable response.
He said that the Ministry of Public Health announced from the first moment of the security breach that it would cover all the wounded at its own expense, adding that a rapid mechanism had been put in place so that the papers would be referred in a short period of time to the Ministry of Finance so that the dues could be disbursed to the hospitals so that they could regain readiness in anticipation of any emergency.
Minister Al-Abyad pointed out that he was informed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri through the head of the Parliamentary Health Committee Bilal Abdullah, as well as by the Prime Minister during his visit to the Ministry of Health yesterday, that they are ready to facilitate the issue of dues. He stressed the importance of the issue, especially since the Israeli attacks require the health sector to remain at the highest level of readiness, stressing that he will remain with this sector as a watchful eye on Lebanese society to provide it with the best medical and health services.
