At least 13 people were killed in an Israeli attack on Ain Al Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, in the southern city of Saida, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Tuesday evening.
The ministry said the death toll was still preliminary.
Videos from the aftermath showed rescuers loading several bodies – some so badly mangled that they were no longer whole – on to a lorry.
The Israeli army said it had struck a Hamas military compound that it claimed was used to train for and plan attacks against Israel, but did not specify whether the strike attacked particular members of the group.
“Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munition, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence,” the Israeli army said.
In a recorded statement, military spokesman Lt Col Avichai Adraee said the army would “continue to act forcefully against Hamas's attempts to establish a foothold in Lebanon and eliminate its operatives who threaten our security".
Hamas said Israel had fabricated the claim about a training compound, and that the target was an “open sports field frequented by young men from the camp”. It said the victims were young men.
“There are no military installations in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon,” it said in a statement condemning the strike.
Lebanon’s state news agency initially reported that a car convoy near Ain Al Hilweh’s Khalid bin Walid Mosque was hit by an Israeli drone, but later said the attack involved missiles fired from Israeli warplanes at a nearby compound.
The overcrowded and densely packed Ain Al Hilweh camp has an estimated population of more than 60,000 Palestinian refugees, although the real number is believed to be significantly higher.
Hamas led the October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people, igniting an Israeli assault on Gaza that killed more than 69,000 Palestinians. Hamas is also a close ally of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
