A declared Israeli airstrike around 5:30 p.m. on 1 June 2026 near Tyre’s Jabal Amel hospital killed five people - all categorised by Airwars as militants - and injured 127 others.
The injured
‘Megaphone’ reported that 127 people were injured by the strike, a significant increase from BintJbeil’s initial toll of 60. 39 of the wounded were hospital staff - four doctors, 27 nurses, and eight administrative employees. Out of the staff, four were reported to be in critical condition.
One of the injured was hospital security guard Mohammed Mounes. A photograph shared by ‘Photo News Network’ shows Mohammed in a high-vis yellow vest and black cap.
A hospital employee, identified by MSF Lebanon only as Jamila, was also reported wounded. In photographs, she has bruising and cuts on her face.
Dr. Hassan Qasir, the head of the intensive care unit, “sustained minor injuries and bruises,” but was well enough to be interviewed and “resumed work just minutes after being injured.”
Timing of the strike
A doctor interviewed by France 24 reported that the strikes began around 5:30 p.m.
The hospital
Source “Megaphone” specified that the strike “targeted the Ma’rakh intersection opposite Jabal Amel Hospital,” and hit a nearby building and the parking lot. The strike “caused extensive damage inside the hospital, particularly to patient rooms, the dialysis unit, and the hospital grounds.” The cardiac care unit was “completely rendered inoperable,” according to ‘Legal Agenda,’ and the “neonatal, dialysis, and maternity wards were also damaged, along with medical equipment, supplies, and patient records.” It also caused a power outage in the intensive care unit, meaning oxygen wasn't deliverable; solar panels were also destroyed. The power outages affected everything from hospital wings to morgue refrigeration. That the hospital had generators meant it was able to eventually continue, albeit partially, operating. The intermediate care unit “was converted into a cardiac care unit after the cardiac care unit was rendered inoperable, and work began on converting the COVID-19 ward into an alternative care space.” Despite the damage it received, the dialysis unit “remained operational,” though one nurse who had been performing dialysis in a patient at the time of the strike, had to be transferred to the intensive care unit for an injury to the head.
One of the rooms destroyed was a neonatal unit; infants were in the room at the time of the strike. BintJbeil reported that two residential buildings were completely destroyed, with ‘Legal Agenda’ clarifying that these buildings, less than 40 metres from the hospital entrance, also housed clinics. Shops were also reported damaged, as was the Al-Hadi Bakery. The blast wave was estimated to have a radius of 80-100 meters.
The hospital was housing “approximately [longer-term] 90 patients” at the time of the strike, alongside the “staff, visitors, and the wounded it receives daily.” Hospital director Dr. Wael Marwa described the “state of shock” that permeated the hospital after the strike. To ‘Legal Agenda,’ nurses recalled that patients were in ventilators “when the ward they were in was destroyed. Their beds were blown away, and the suspended ceilings collapsed in them.”
Survivor Testimonies
Dr. Marwa explained that “despite the destruction and their own injuries, the doctors and nurses managed to reconnect the patients to their ventilators and then move them to another location. Thank God, no one was killed thanks to their swift intervention, despite their wounds.”
Khadija Youssef, a nurse and team leader in the intensive care unit, said that “at that moment, we didn’t think about ourselves at all. I immediately shouted to my colleague: The patients! We have to see the patients, quickly!” The response was so immediate, Khadija explained, because “protecting the patients is our duty.”
Dr. Marwa emphasised that despite anxiety amongst the staff, they were committed to working as before: “Of course there’s fear, a great deal of fear. No one is safe. But they came, we talked, and we said we would continue as before.” Another doctor, Dr. Hassan Qasir, told Al-Akhbar News that staff “rushed to move patients from the damaged rooms to others,” though the destruction was “immense.”
The importance of the hospital was paramount, Dr. Qasir explained. “Our mission is to treat all patients, whether they are war casualties or suffering from other medical conditions; this is the very least of our duties. We must do our utmost to overcome the destruction and terror that have unfolded. The need for the hospital is greater now than ever, as we are on the front lines.”
Outside of hospital staff, Civil Defense teams from the Islamic Message Scouts Association helped in removing rubble to search for the wounded.
Others in the hospital also recalled the events. Manateq News interviewed a woman who recalled that the strike was “like a volcano erupting on us.” Another man, a hospital employee, said that “dust, smoke, glass and stones hit me and the children.” The man was momentarily blinded by the strike, and he threw himself over the children to protect them, so he could “get hurt instead.” He later realised he was covered in shrapnel injuries. To the network, he decried what he saw as a lock of care from the government: “We are hospital employees. We work for people’s health. Someone should at least ask about us.”
Source ZNN included a video where a survivor recounted: “We were inside the room - thank God we survived - when suddenly we heard the sound of the impact. The room turned white, and I started screaming frantically. I was searching for one of the women who was with me; I found her right here, buried under the debris and unconscious. Someone came, lifted her up, and carried her down. Fortunately, I wasn’t injured and managed to get out. The children had been playing outside, and someone protected them.” A child, also interviewed by ZNN, recalled a similar situation: “I was playing with my friends when, suddenly, a strike occurred; it was clearly on the other side. When the second strike hit, I couldn’t hear it well because everyone was screaming. I went down to the underground level to catch my breath, but suddenly someone picked me up and dragged me away - I couldn’t move. We then went to my grandmother’s room, only to find that the ceiling had collapsed on top of her.”
‘Voice of Joy website’ reported that staff organised a protest “to condemn the blatant attack.” However, the hospital was buoyed the following day by the birth of two newborns, Fares and Youssef.
International response
The strike was condemned by international bodies, with MSF Lebanon (MSF supports the hospital) publishing a statement.
UNHCR Lebanon also commented on the strike, sharing a video of a woman, Natalie, recounting the moment of the strike: “We were asleep at 6:00 when suddenly the lights went out and the room filled with dust; that was when I realised something had happened. We had been safe here - where could we go? One of the children said he had been sleeping there when he heard an explosion and the place was destroyed. We got out, sat for a while, and then went to the balcony and saw all the destruction; we were terrified.”
Israeli military statement
To CNN, the Israeli military claimed that “the hospital was not directly targeted, but was damaged as a result of the airstrikes targeting what the army described as Hezbollah infrastructure in a nearby area.” Given the confirmation that the hospital was indeed effected by Israeli military strikes, Airwars has used this statement to understand the incident as 'declared'.
Militants killed (five)
Annahar Newspaper reported that five people were killed in the strike, though Sour Alfarah alleged “dozens.”
Mohammed Bilal Allam, Mohammed Jihad Shabib Balhas and Ali Atef Balhas
Mohammed Bilal Allam, Mohammed Jihad Shabib Balhas and Ali Atef Balhas were all pictured in memorial photographs shared by @SeddiQine superimposed on backgrounds with Hezbollah imagery; the post’s caption believed they were “martyrs who gave their lives for Lebanon.” Other sources shared similar imagery.
In a post from source @alshahid.ali_atef_balhas, Ali Atef Balhas can be seen in military fatigues holding a gun. In a doctored photograph shared by @Ali Ahmad, all three men are wearing fatigues.
Ali Irbahim Reda
Ali Ibrahim Reda has also been categorised as a militant, due to reference to his involvement on “the front lines.”
Hassan Moussa Ma'ana
Hassan Moussa Ma’ana, from Ma’raka, was also killed, dying the following day from wounds sustained in the strike. Pictured in a post from ‘Yainoub 2 website,’ he can be seen wearing a white shirt and sunglasses, holding espresso. Ma’ana was described by @Hassan Wehbi as a member of the Amal Movement, which contains both military and political wings. @Ali Saad described Ma’ana as “among the first mujahideen to bear the burden of the land and its people during the occupation” and believed that “‘weapons are an adornment for men when directed against the enemy.’” The source further reported that he engaged in “jihadist [...] work.” While Ma’ana has been categorised as a militant, it is possible that due to his age, his militancy was confined to earlier periods of conflict.