Amel Association International is following with deep concern the recent decisions and classifications targeting Lebanese health institutions, and the serious repercussions they carry, which strike at the very core of humanitarian and medical work and threaten one of the most sensitive sectors linked to fundamental human rights, foremost among them the right to health and life.
Under international humanitarian law, health institutions, especially hospitals, are considered protected facilities that must not be targeted, politicized, or subjected to any classification that diverts them from their humanitarian role. The Geneva Conventions and the principles of international human rights law clearly and unequivocally stipulate the necessity of shielding the health sector and its workers from political and military conflicts, and ensuring the continuity of their work without pressure, sanctions, or criminalization.
Amel Association International warns that listing hospitals or health institutions on any punitive or security-related lists constitutes a dangerous precedent unknown in modern history. Such measures open the door to undermining the entire humanitarian protection system and turn patients, the most vulnerable group, into additional victims of decisions that disregard humanitarian standards and ethical principles.
These health institutions are an integral part of the fabric of Lebanese society. For decades, they have served as a refuge for patients of all backgrounds, without discrimination or exclusion, and have contributed to preserving civil peace and strengthening social resilience in the darkest circumstances. They have never been instruments of conflict, but rather spaces of healing and pillars of human solidarity that unite Arab peoples in the face of crises.
In this context, Amel Association International affirms that Arab solidarity is not a matter of slogans, but a mutual ethical and humanitarian commitment based on protecting human dignity and safeguarding vital institutions, especially health facilities. Brotherhood among peoples also entails collective responsibility to avoid harming the most vulnerable groups and to refrain from using legal or political tools in ways that contradict the spirit of justice and humanity.
The Association believes that such decisions do not serve stability or enhance security. On the contrary, they deepen humanitarian crises, increase social vulnerability, and weaken the capacity of health systems to respond to growing needs in a country already burdened by unprecedented economic and social pressures.
Accordingly, Amel Association International calls for reconsidering these approaches and adopting the principles of dialogue, verification, and adherence to international humanitarian law, away from generalization and collective punishment. It also urges the protection of the health sector from any direct or indirect targeting, in order to safeguard people’s right to treatment and preserve shared human values that must remain above all considerations.
Amel Association International calls on all concerned parties to review this unjust decision and to adopt a fair humanitarian and legal approach that respects the principles of international humanitarian law and protects health institutions from any classification or measure that removes them from their natural role as spaces of healing and protection. Protecting the health sector is a civilizational responsibility, and any harm to it directly affects people’s lives and dignity. From this standpoint, the Association affirms that justice, verification, and dialogue are the only path to safeguarding human beings and their vital institutions, and to preserving shared human values that must never be compromised under any circumstances.
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