At least two killed in Israeli attack on Palestinian camp in Lebanon 

At least two people have been killed in an Israeli attack on Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, the latest breach of a 2024 ceasefire deal with the armed group, Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported on Friday that an “Israeli drone” targeted the Hittin neighbourhood of the Ein el-Hilweh camp, located on the outskirts of the southern city of Sidon.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said two people were killed in the attack. The NNA had reported earlier that the strike killed a man from the al-Khatib family and wounded several others.

The Israeli army said in a statement that its forces had “struck a Hamas command centre from which terrorists operated” in response to “repeated violations of the ceasefire understandings”.

NNA reported that the strike caused “significant damage” to a building that had previously been used by the joint Palestinian force responsible for the camp’s security, but was now being rented by an individual to “operate a kitchen distributing food aid”.

Last November, Israel conducted a major raid on Ein el-Helweh that killed 13 people, including 11 children, according to the UN rights office.

The military said it was targeting Hamas, which called the claim a “fabrication”, stressing the group does not have training facilities in Lebanon’s refugee camps.

Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with armed group Hezbollah.

According to the United Nations, the Israeli military launched more than 10,000 air and ground attacks in the year since it agreed to halt hostilities.

The UN’s rights office said in November last year that it verified at least 108 civilian casualties from Israeli attacks since the ceasefire, including at least 21 women and 16 children.

Lebanon filed a complaint with the UN last month about the repeated Israeli violations, urging the UN Security Council to push Israel to end its attacks and fully withdraw from the country.

Israel continues to occupy five areas in Lebanese territory, blocking the reconstruction of destroyed border villages and preventing tens of thousands of displaced people from returning to their homes.

On Sunday, Lebanon said an Israeli strike near the Syrian border in the country’s east killed four people, as Israel said it targeted operatives from Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) armed group in Lebanon.