Israeli air strike on Lebanon refugee camp kills 13 people
An Israeli airstrike on the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people. Israel says it targeted a Hamas training site, but Hamas denies any military presence. It’s the deadliest attack since an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in November 2024.
- The drone strike hit a vehicle in the car park of a mosque in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp, located on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon.
- At least four others were wounded.
- Various schools in Sidon are closed today.
- Israel claims the attack targeted Hamas members and that the Palestinian group was operating a training compound in the refugee camp.
- Hamas has called Israel’s justification a “fabrication” and emphasised that it doesn’t have training facilities in Lebanese camps.
- The attack is the latest in a series Israel has carried out in Lebanon in violation of the ceasefire since November 2024, including shooting at UN peacekeepers earlier this week and killing a school principal near the city of Tyre.
Rescuers search for survivors of Ein el-Hilweh attack
Here’s what to know about the camp and its history with Israel:
- Located on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon, Ein el-Hilweh was established in 1948 and is now the largest of Lebanon’s 12 refugee camps.
- At least 64,000 people lived there as of 2023.
- Israel views Ein el-Hilweh as significant for its strategic location and what it has described as potential to serve as a hub for cross-border attacks, experts have told Al Jazeera.
- Last October, amid Israel’s escalating attacks on Lebanon during its conflict with Hezbollah, Israel bombed the camp and killed five people.
- Israel’s history of attacks on Ein el-Hilweh goes back decades, with bombings reported in 1974 and 1982.
Lebanon attack a marked escalation of ceasefire violations
We still do not have permission from Lebanon’s military intelligence to access the camp, but it’s only a few hundred metres from where we are right now.
We’ve been speaking to people here, making their way out of the camp and heading to work. They’re telling us that a sports field – where the youth usually gather and play football – was hit.
This is what Hamas said in their statement, too. They denied what the Israeli army claimed, that this was a training compound for the group.
This is an area where Hamas does have influence. The camp is home to tens of thousands of people. It’s very crowded but it’s also where Palestinian factions have offices.
People here are worried because this is really a marked escalation – the deadliest attack since the ceasefire came into force in November last year. Just a few minutes ago, there was a targeted strike in the south of the country in the village of Tyre.
Israel has also targeted Hamas officials and Hamas members, but most of those attacks were outside the camp’s perimeter.
People gather next to damaged cars inside the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, near the site of the Israeli attack that killed several people on Tuesday
Drone attack in southern Lebanon kills man, injures schoolchildren
An air raid in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil district has killed one person and wounded several others, the National News Agency (NNA) reports. Earlier this morning, a strike on a moving vehicle in al-Tayri town killed its driver, Bilal Shaito, and caused a fire.
Many students were wounded as their school bus passed by the site of the attack.
