An airstrike killed at least 13 people in Lebanon¡¯s largest Palestinian refugee camp, one of Israel¡¯s deadliest attacks on its neighboring country¡¯s southern region that the Jewish state continues to pound despite calls to halt its offensive.
The strike late Tuesday hit the camp in the city of Sidon and injured an unidentified number of people, who were hospitalized, the Lebanese state-run news agency NNA reported, citing medical authorities. The Israeli military said it struck a training compound affiliated to the Iran-backed Hamas after ¡°steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians.¡±
¡°The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is operating against Hamas¡¯ establishment in Lebanon and will continue to operate against Hamas terrorists wherever they operate,¡± the Israeli military said in a statement. Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union, said the attack targeted a sports field.
Hamas is an infrequent target for Israel in Lebanon, where the Israeli military has mostly been attacking facilities and personnel of Hezbollah, another proxy of Iran, over the past months.
The conflict started when Hamas attacked Israeli territories, killed 1,200 and abducted 250 in Oct. 2023. Israel¡¯s retaliatory campaign killed more than 69,000 people in Gaza.
Hezbollah stepped in to back its ally Hamas, igniting a war with Israel followed by a U.S.- and French-backed ceasefire late last year. Israel says the post-truce attacks in Lebanon aim to prevent the Lebanese militia from regrouping after it lost much of its military might during the war.
The recurring Israeli strikes on Lebanon have recently stoked fears the truce could collapse, which would threaten an already shaky ceasefire in Gaza ¡ª part of U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s plan to end the war in the coastal enclave.
Reiterating the government¡¯s stance, Lebanon¡¯s President Joseph Aoun said earlier this month Israel must stop its ¡°continuous assaults¡± in order for the Lebanese army to deploy troops in the south and disarm militant groups in the country as planned. Hezbollah has refused to hand over its arms, a key stumbling block to the U.S.-backed plan.
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