Israeli airstrike kills 13 in Lebanon refugee camp
Strike hits Ein el-Hilweh camp as Israel targets alleged Hamas compound, sparking condemnation and renewed tensions in region
SIDON, Lebanon (MNTV) — An Israeli airstrike on the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed 13 people and injured several others, Lebanese authorities and state media reported.
The attack, the deadliest in Lebanon since last year’s Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, struck a car parked near a mosque on the outskirts of Sidon, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The Lebanese Health Ministry confirmed the fatalities and said several others were wounded, though it provided no further details. Ambulances rushed to evacuate the dead and injured, but Hamas fighters in the area blocked journalists from reaching the scene.
The Israeli military stated the strike targeted a Hamas training facility preparing attacks against Israel and its forces, emphasizing that operations against Hamas would continue wherever the group operates.
Hamas condemned the airstrike, insisting that the attack hit a sports playground and denying the existence of a military compound at the site.
Over the past two years, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed numerous Hezbollah officials as well as leaders of Palestinian factions, including Hamas.
Saleh Arouri, deputy political chief of Hamas and founder of its military wing, was killed in a drone strike near Beirut on January 2, 2024, and other officials have been targeted in subsequent attacks.
Hamas carried out the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, prompting Israel’s massive offensive in Gaza that resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian casualties, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The day after the offensive began, Hezbollah launched rockets at Israeli positions along the border, prompting Israeli shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon that escalated into a full-scale war in late September 2024.
That conflict, the latest in decades of Hezbollah-Israel hostilities, left over 4,000 people dead in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians, and caused estimated damage of $11 billion, the World Bank reported. In Israel, 127 people were killed, including 80 soldiers.
The war concluded in late November 2024 under a US-brokered ceasefire. Since then, Israel has conducted repeated airstrikes in Lebanon, asserting that Hezbollah is attempting to rebuild its military capabilities.
According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, more than 270 people have been killed and around 850 wounded by Israeli military actions since the ceasefire.
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