BEIRUT, Lebanon 

One health worker was killed and four others injured after an Israeli drone targeted an ambulance in southern Lebanon, authorities said on Saturday.

Lebanon’s official news agency NNA reported that an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle carried out an airstrike on an ambulance in the town of Kfar Tebnit in Nabatieh province.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said in a statement that one medical worker was killed and four people were injured in the attack.

The ministry further noted the strike constituted a violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, describing it as a “war crime.”

It added that 42 health workers have been killed since Israeli attacks on Lebanon began on March 2.

The Israeli army has pounded Lebanon with airstrikes and launched a ground offensive in southern Lebanon since a cross-border attack by Hezbollah on March 2.

The ongoing Israeli offensive on Lebanon comes amid heightened regional tensions since the US and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran on Feb. 28, killing more than 1,340 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Tehran has retaliated with waves of drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, inflicting casualties and infrastructure damage while disrupting global markets and aviation.

*Writing by Merve Berker