Israel kills 13 in strike on Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

An Israeli air strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people on Tuesday, according to the health ministry.

The attack targeted an area near a mosque and a football pitch in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the city of Sidon, which was packed with civilians.

Local media reported that dozens were wounded in the strike.

Ain al-Hilweh is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. It houses a population of nearly 80,000 people who live in an area of just 1.5 sq km. 

The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas “military compound” allegedly used for training.

Hamas condemned the attack and dismissed Israel’s claim as “pure fabrication and lies”.

The group said there are no military installations inside refugee camps in Lebanon, adding that the area hit was a well-known open sports field regularly used by young men from the camp.

Footage shared online from what Palestinians described as a “massacre” showed civilians and rescue teams carrying bodies and remains of those killed in the blast.

In one clip, the scattered remains of victims lay on a stretcher in a crowded street.

Continued Israeli violations

Several Israeli drone strikes were reported in Lebanon on Tuesday, marking the latest violation of a ceasefire that has been in place since November 2024.

Earlier, two Lebanese citizens were killed in separate strikes carried out by Israeli drones in the towns of Blida and Bint Jbeil, south Lebanon.

The ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese movement Hezbollah took effect on 27 November last year, after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the United States and France.

The agreement, which comprises 13 points, stipulated Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, enabling civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes. 

Hezbollah was to remove its fighters and weapons from the area between the Blue Line - the unofficial border between Lebanon and Israel - to areas north of the Litani River.

In the south, the framework noted that its fighter must be replaced with the Lebanese army who will ensure that infrastructure and weaponry are removed and cannot be rebuilt.

However, Israel has repeatedly violated the agreement, carrying out some 500 air strikes since then and killing over 108 people, according to UN experts.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed over 4,000 people over the past two years.