Israel’s Hamas targets reach Lebanon’s Sidon

On November 18, 2025, Israel targeted the Ein El Hilweh Palestinian Refugee Camp (PRC), in the deadliest strike on Lebanon since the November 2024 cessation of hostilities between Beirut and Tel Aviv, raising fears of renewed instability along the border.

Tuesday’s strike comes amid a pattern of Israeli attacks in Lebanon that, over the past 2 years, have killed senior figures in Hezbollah as well as operatives from Palestinian groups including Hamas. Among the most high-profile casualties was Saleh Arouri, Hamas’s deputy political leader and one of the architects of its military wing, who was killed in a drone strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs on January 2, 2024. Several other Hamas officials have been targeted in similar operations since then.

The Ein El Hilweh PRC strike

An Israeli aerial attack on the Ein El Hilweh PRC in southern Lebanon resulted in the deaths of over a dozen of people and left numerous others injured, according to Lebanese state media and officials.

The assault, carried out by an Israeli drone, struck a vehicle parked near a mosque at the edge of the densely populated camp outside Sidon. Lebanon’s Ministry of Health confirmed the death toll at 13, noting that several additional victims were taken to nearby hospitals, though it did not release further medical details.

Access to the site was heavily restricted. Local residents said that Hamas gunmen cordoned off the area and blocked journalists from approaching while emergency crews scrambled to retrieve bodies and assist the wounded. The restrictions added to the confusion and tension surrounding the attack, leaving independent verification of the strike’s immediate aftermath difficult.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, acknowledged responsibility, stating that “the Israeli army targeted individuals who were operating inside a Hamas training compound in the Ein El Hilweh area in southern Lebanon.” He added that “when we say that we will not tolerate any threat on the northern border, this includes all groups operating in the region, as we will continue to act strongly against Hamas’ attempts to establish positions in Lebanon and to eliminate elements that threaten our security.”

Local and Palestinian reactions

Hamas rejected the Israeli account, insisting the site was not a military facility but a recreational area used by civilians. It stated that “the claims and allegations of the Zionist occupation army that the targeted location is a ‘training complex affiliated with the movement’ are sheer fabrication and lies,” claiming that “the target was an open sports field frequented by the youth of the camp, known to all the camp's residents, and that those who were targeted were a group of young people present in the field at the moment of the attack.”

Hamas accused Israel of aiming to justify “its criminal aggression and inciting against the camps and our Palestinian people. There are no military facilities in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon. However, Adraee later posted on the X platform a photo of what he claimed was “the call that exposes the lies of Hamas and some Lebanese parties,” adding that “we precisely targeted a Hamas training and training complex in Lebanon, which was part of a plan to carry out attacks against Israel. We have targeted the compound that Hamas has called on its ‘youth’ on more than one occasion to join its terrorist ranks. It was not a peaceful compound as they claimed in the media.”

Meanwhile, a general strike in the region took place, as a large number of public and private schools in the city of Sidon have closed in mourning. Furthermore, at 10:30 a.m., at the invitation of the Mufti of Sidon and its districts, Sheikh Salim Sussan, a broad meeting of Sidon’s community leaders was held at the Dar al-Iftaa to denounce the aggression and show solidarity with the families of the martyrs and the wounded.