Norway 'alarmed' by attacks on journalists, health care workers in Lebanon

Norway's foreign minister on Sunday expressed concern over attacks on journalists and health care workers in Lebanon, urging respect for international humanitarian law.

"I am deeply concerned by developments in #Lebanon, and alarmed by the attacks on health care workers and journalists. Medical personnel, hospitals, and members of the press must be protected," Espen Barth Eide wrote on the US social media platform X.

He called for international humanitarian law to be respected "at all times."

The comments came after two paramedics were reportedly killed Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on a center belonging to the Islamic Health Organization near Bint Jbeil Hospital in southern Lebanon.

Three journalists were also killed Saturday when an Israeli airstrike hit a vehicle they were traveling in near the southern city of Jezzine.

Israel has pounded Lebanon with airstrikes and launched a ground offensive in the south since a cross-border attack by Hezbollah on March 2.

Lebanese authorities said that 1,142 have since been killed and 3,315 others wounded in the Israeli assault.

The escalation came amid a joint US-Israeli offensive on Iran, which has killed more than 1,340 people since Feb. 28. Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, US bases and Gulf countries.