13 killed in Israeli air strike on Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

An Israeli air strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon has killed 13 people and wounded several others, state media and the Lebanese health officials said.

The drone strike hit a car in the car park of a mosque in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon, the state-run National News Agency said.

The health ministry said 13 people were killed and several others were wounded in the air strike.

Hamas fighters in the area prevented journalists from reaching the scene, as ambulances rushed to evacuate the wounded and the dead.

The Israeli military said it struck a training centre for Hamas, saying that the site was being used to prepare an attack against the Israeli army. It added that the Israeli army would continue to act against Hamas wherever they work.

Hamas condemned the attack in a statement saying the strike hit a sports playground and denying that it was a training compound.

Over the past two years, Israeli air strikes on Lebanon have killed scores of officials from the militant Hezbollah group as well as Palestinian factions.

Hamas led the attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023 that killed about 1,200 people.

Israel’s offensive since then on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 69,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority are women and children.