Israel Strikes Hamas Training Compound in Southern Lebanon, at Least 13 Terrorists Reported Killed

Late last night, Israel carried out an airstrike on what the IDF described as a Hamas training and coordination compound in the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon. Lebanese reports said at least 13 people were killed and dozens were wounded in the strike.

According to the IDF, the site functioned as a Hamas training and coordination hub used by the Lebanon branch to prepare future attacks against Israel. The strike was launched after intelligence confirmed that dozens of Hamas terrorists were present and engaged in operational activity. The IDF said the Air Force conducted the strike under Northern Command, with measures taken to reduce civilian harm. “Before the strike, steps were taken to reduce the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence information. The IDF is acting against Hamas’s entrenchment in Lebanon and will continue to operate with force against Hamas terrorists wherever they operate.”

Lebanese outlets offered conflicting accounts of the moments before the strike. A Hezbollah-aligned outlet reported that the attack targeted people who had just left a mosque and were preparing to enter vehicles parked outside. Other Lebanese reports said Hamas members sealed off the area after the strike to keep civilians away, with locals describing the site as a closed field that is usually busy at that hour.

Israeli officials said the location had been under surveillance for an extended period, and the strike was approved once visual confirmation showed dozens of militants gathered and operational conditions aligned.

Hamas accused Israel of fabricating their claims, saying: “These claims by the army that a Hamas training compound was struck are a complete lie and a plot meant to justify its criminal aggression and incite against the refugee camps and the Palestinian people. There are no military facilities in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon. What was struck was an open sports field where young men from the camp train.”

A separate Hamas source told a Qatari newspaper that the “massacre in the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp was meant to shuffle the cards in the Lebanese arena in the shadow of yesterday’s Security Council decision,” referring to the UN’s approval of an international stabilization force for Gaza.

Following Hamas’s denials, IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee published Hamas recruitment posters from Lebanon and issued a forceful message countering the group’s claims. “We struck precisely a Hamas recruitment and training facility in Lebanon, which was part of a plot to carry out attacks against Israel,” he said. “Hamas repeatedly called on its ‘youth’ to join its ranks. This was not a quiet facility, as claimed. As for the lies, accusations, and talk of a ‘massacre,’ these are nothing but a desperate attempt by Hamas and some Lebanese parties to cover up the real terrorism. We are alert. We will not allow terror to raise its head again. When we say we will not tolerate any threat on our northern border, we mean all the terrorist groups operating in the area and plotting against our security.”