Deadly Israeli Drone Strike Hits Palestinian Camp in Lebanon Amid Fragile Ceasefire:

At least 13 people were killed on Tuesday in an Israeli drone strike on the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. The attack targeted a car parked in the courtyard of a mosque inside the camp, located on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon. The Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported that the strike also left at least four people injured, though officials warned the toll could rise as ambulances continued transporting casualties to nearby hospitals. Israel confirmed the attack, claiming it had struck members of Hamas who were allegedly operating inside what it described as a training facility within the camp. “When we say we will not tolerate any threat on our northern border, this means all terrorist groups operating in the region,” Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement. He added that Israel would continue to “act forcefully” against what it views as Hamas’s efforts to expand its presence in Lebanon. Hamas, however, rejected Israel’s justification, calling the allegation of a training compound inside the camp a “fabrication.” The group condemned the strike as a “barbaric aggression” against Palestinians living in Lebanon’s refugee camps and a blatant violation of Lebanese sovereignty. The attack in Ein el-Hilweh was one of several strikes reported across southern Lebanon on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Lebanese authorities said two people were killed in Israeli strikes targeting vehicles in other parts of the region. Since the start of the current Israel-Gaza war in October 2023—triggered by the Hamas-led attack that killed 1,139 people in Israel—Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted Palestinian factions operating in Lebanon. A number of Hamas officials and members of other Palestinian groups have been assassinated in such strikes over the past year. According to Palestinian health officials in Gaza, Israel’s war on the enclave has since killed more than 69,000 people and wounded over 170,000. The conflict widened just one day after the war began when Lebanon’s Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel, prompting Israeli retaliation. What started as cross-border exchanges escalated dramatically, culminating in a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah in late September 2024. Lebanon suffered heavy losses during that escalation: more than 4,000 people were killed, including hundreds of civilians. Israel also reported casualties, with 127 people killed, among them 80 soldiers. Although a ceasefire agreement was reached on November 27, 2024, tensions have persisted along the border. According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, more than 270 people have been killed and roughly 850 wounded by Israeli military actions since the ceasefire took effect. Lebanese officials and analysts accuse Israel of repeatedly violating the terms of the agreement. “There are daily violations of the ceasefire by Israel in Lebanon, and it would be unfair at this stage to pin the blame on the Lebanese government,” Lebanese political analyst Karim Emile Bitar told Al Jazeera. He noted that the Lebanese government made a “historic decision” to direct the Lebanese army to oversee Hezbollah’s disarmament—an unprecedented and highly sensitive move. Despite those steps, Bitar said Israel has failed to fulfill its obligations. Under the ceasefire terms, Israel was required to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon by January 26, 2025, a deadline it missed. Continued strikes like Tuesday’s attack, he added, risk pushing the region back into open conflict. As tensions simmer and casualties mount, humanitarian workers warn that both Lebanese residents and Palestinian refugees remain trapped in an increasingly volatile and unpredictable security landscape.

NEWS