Israel has killed more than 100 medical workers in Lebanon over the past year, many medics believe it is on purpose.

Beirut, Lebanon – On Monday, Israel killed 10 firefighters in a strike on the southern Lebanese town of Baraachit, near Bint Jbeil, in what rescue workers have described as a deliberate attack.

The killings pushed the number of rescue workers Israel has killed in Lebanon to more than 100 in the past year – most of them in the past two weeks.

“It’s a tragedy that shocked me,” said a Lebanese Civil Defense member from nearby Tebnine, who asked Al Jazeera to withhold his name for fear of reprisals.

“I knew them, they were all my friends,” he said, adding that while they were not from the same organisation, there was coordination between them.