Israel launched an airstrike late Tuesday on neighbouring Lebanon, hitting the crowded Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh in the country’s south. At least 13 people were killed and several others injured, according to Lebanese authorities.
The strike is among the deadliest Israeli operations in Lebanon since its ceasefire with Hezbollah nearly a year ago, which ended a brief but intense conflict with the Iran-backed group.
The Israeli military said the target was a Hamas training facility near the southern port city of Sidon. In a post on X, the IDF stated that “terrorists operating in a Hamas training compound in the Ain al-Hilweh area” were using the site “for training and exercises in order to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel.”
Lebanon’s health ministry confirmed that the casualties were residents of Ain el-Hilweh, the country’s largest and most densely populated Palestinian refugee camp. The camp is known for overcrowding, poverty, and long-standing tensions between rival Palestinian factions.
The strike comes nearly a year after Israel and Hezbollah reached a ceasefire that paused more than a year of cross-border hostilities. Hezbollah joined the fighting by launching rockets into Israel in support of Hamas following the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, which triggered the Gaza war.
Months of escalating exchanges culminated in a major Israeli offensive last year, including a ground incursion into southern Lebanon that displaced over one million people and decimated much of Hezbollah’s senior leadership. The conflict became Lebanon’s deadliest in decades, killing nearly 4,000 people.
