Israel late Tuesday launched an airstrike on neighboring Lebanon, hitting the densely populated Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh in the country’s south. The strike killed at least 13 people and left several others injured.It was among the deadliest Israeli attacks in Lebanon since a ceasefire with Hezbollah came into effect nearly a year ago, ending a short but intense war with the Iranian-backed militant group.
The Israeli military said the target was a Hamas training compound near the southern port city of Sidon. In a post onAccording to the Lebanese health ministry, the attack killed residents of Ain el-Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest and most overcrowded Palestinian refugee camp. The camp has long been dominated by rival Palestinian factions and is marked by chronic poverty.The strike also came nearly a year after Israel and Hezbollah reached a ceasefire to halt more than a year of cross-border fighting. Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas after the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, which triggered the Gaza war.Following months of tit-for-tat exchanges, Israel launched a major offensive last year, including a ground invasion into southern Lebanon that displaced more than 1 million people and killed much of Hezbollah’s senior leadership.The conflict became Lebanon’s deadliest in decades, claiming around 4,000 lives.
