Thirteen Palestinian refugees were killed and dozens more wounded on Tuesday evening when an Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle inside the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon.
The attack marked one of the deadliest Israeli assaults on Palestinian refugee infrastructure in Lebanon in recent years.
According to the Lebanese National News Agency, the strike occurred near the Khalid bin al-Walid Mosque in the lower street of the refugee camp, a densely populated civilian area.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of devastation as the drone fired on a vehicle surrounded by pedestrians, many of whom were returning from evening prayers.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health confirmed the death toll and reported that emergency teams were still evacuating the wounded late into the night.
The victims were all registered Palestinian refugees, descendants of families displaced during the Nakba in 1948.
Israeli military sources claimed the strike “targeted Hamas operatives” allegedly planning attacks from within the camp.
However, Hamas denied having any military presence in Ain al-Hilweh, and Lebanese officials stated unequivocally that the victims were civilians. No evidence has been presented to support the Israeli claim.
Ain al-Hilweh, home to over 70,000 Palestinian refugees, has long suffered from overcrowding, poverty, and limited access to Lebanese state services.
The refugee camp is administered by a patchwork of Palestinian factions and remains outside full Lebanese government control.
Tuesday’s strike is part of a broader pattern of Israeli drone attacks across southern Lebanon, which have intensified since the war on Gaza began in October 2023.
On the same day, Israeli drones also struck targets in Blida and Bint Jbeil towns in southern Lebanon, killing at least two more people.
Lebanese political leaders and civil society groups condemned the attack as a violation of national sovereignty and a massacre of civilians. Palestinian organizations in Lebanon called for international accountability and warned of further escalation.
