Beirut, Lebanon – Hamas has issued a strong condemnation of what it describes as a ‘massacre’ perpetrated by the Israeli military in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, located near Sidon in southern Lebanon. The organization vehemently denies Israeli claims of any military installations within Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
In a statement released following the Israeli airstrike on Ain al-Hilweh on Tuesday evening, which resulted in the deaths of at least 13 people and injuries to several others, Hamas stated, ‘We condemn and reject the Zionist aggression that targeted a densely populated civilian area near a mosque. We consider this a brutal attack on our defenseless Palestinian people and a violation of Lebanese sovereignty.’
The statement further addressed claims made by the Israeli military that the targeted location was a Hamas training facility. Hamas dismissed these allegations as ‘pure fabrication and lies aimed at justifying its criminal aggression and inciting hatred against the camps and our Palestinian people.’ The organization reiterated its firm stance that ‘there are no military installations in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.’
The Israeli military had claimed in a statement that it targeted militants operating in a Hamas training complex in southern Lebanon. This claim has been flatly denied by Hamas.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reported on Tuesday evening that 13 people were killed and four others injured in the Israeli airstrike on Ain al-Hilweh. This followed an earlier incident in which one person was killed by drone fire targeting a vehicle in the town of Buleida, also in southern Lebanon.
DZWatch sources report that the strike in Ain al-Hilweh targeted a vehicle near the Khaled bin al-Walid Mosque, sparking fires in the area.
