Beirut, November 19, 2025: At least 13 people were killed and several others injured on Tuesday after an Israeli airstrike hit the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The strike targeted the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, a densely populated area near Sidon. In a statement, the Israeli military said it had struck “militants operating in a training compound” used by the Palestinian movement Hamas to plan attacks against Israel.
Hamas, however, rejected the Israeli claim, calling it “a fabrication and lie aimed at justifying criminal aggression.” The group said the strike hit an open sports field regularly used by camp residents and insisted there were no military facilities inside refugee camps in Lebanon.
Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian camp, is home to more than 50,000 refugees and has long been vulnerable to spillover violence from regional conflicts.
Israel maintains five military posts inside Lebanese territory, and its forces frequently conduct airstrikes across southern Lebanon, often targeting positions it says belong to Hezbollah or, at times, Hamas operatives.
Last year, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire that required Hezbollah to refrain from maintaining weapons in southern Lebanon, while also committing Israel to fully withdraw from Lebanese territory. Despite the accord, cross-border tensions have remained high, and sporadic strikes continue to threaten stability along the frontier.
