Rescuers and Youssef Assaf's family pay him a final tribute during the funeral of the ambulance worker in Tyre, on March 11, 2026. (Credit: Kawnat Haju/AFP)
"If rescue teams had been granted access sooner to the site of the Israeli strike in southern Lebanon — in Tir Harfa, in the Bint Jbeil district — journalist Amal Khalil would probably have survived," said Hilal Fawaz, a rescue official with the al-Rissala Scouts Association.He stressed what he described as the "absolute necessity" for emergency teams, since the resumption of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2, 2026, to obtain prior authorization from the Israeli army before assisting the wounded or recovering bodies in the de-facto buffer zone it has established in southern Lebanon. "During the previous war, we would notify the local authorities and head out immediately," he added. "Now, it can take 24 hours, two days or even longer. Inevitably, that means more...
"If rescue teams had been granted access sooner to the site of the Israeli strike in southern Lebanon — in Tir Harfa, in the Bint Jbeil district — journalist Amal Khalil would probably have survived," said Hilal Fawaz, a rescue official with the al-Rissala Scouts Association.He stressed what he described as the "absolute necessity" for emergency teams, since the resumption of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2, 2026, to obtain prior authorization from the Israeli army before assisting the wounded or recovering bodies in the de-facto buffer zone it has established in southern Lebanon. "During the previous war, we would notify the local authorities and head out immediately," he added. "Now, it can take 24 hours, two days or even longer. Inevitably, that means more...
