13 killed in strike on Lebanon refugee camp; Israel claims Hamas was preparing strike

Sidon, Lebanon: An Israeli airstrike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon killed 13 people and injured several others on Tuesday, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state media.

The attack marks the deadliest Israeli strike in Lebanon since the ceasefire that halted the Israel–Hezbollah war a year ago.

The strike, carried out by an Israeli drone, targeted a car parked near a mosque inside the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of Sidon, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. Ambulances rushed to the scene, though Hamas fighters blocked journalists from entering the area.

The Israeli military said it had hit a Hamas training compound, claiming the site was being used to prepare an imminent attack against Israel. It vowed to continue operations “wherever Hamas operates.”

However, Hamas denied the accusation, saying the strike hit a sports ground and not a military facility.

The attack comes amid a series of Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past two years that have killed senior members of Hezbollah and Palestinian factions, including Hamas. Hamas deputy political chief Saleh Arouri was killed in a drone strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs on January 2, 2024.