Palestinian officials in Lebanon have rejected claims by the Israeli army that a deadly strike on a Palestinian refugee camp hit a Hamas training camp, insisting that the area bombed was a football pitch with children playing inside it.
At least 14 people were killed in the Israeli attack, with residents of the camp reporting hearing and feeling three missile impacts. It is the largest death toll in Lebanon in a single strike since a ceasefire was declared between Israel and Hezbollah in November last year; it is also the first strike on Ain Al Hilweh since the ceasefire.
It was followed on Wednesday by several strikes on southern Lebanon, with Israel claiming it had hit Hezbollah weapons storage sites as it continues to increase attacks.
Hamas dismissed Israeli army claims that it struck a training compound at the Palestinian camp as fabricated, saying the target was an “open sports field frequented by young men from the camp”.
The armed movement’s assertion was backed by Abdul Hadi Al Asadi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the spokesman for the Palestinian National Security Forces in Lebanon, who said the strike hit a “large group of boys under 18" playing football near the Khalid bin Walid Mosque complex in the Ain Al Hilweh refugee camp.
Neither Hamas nor the Israeli army provided any confirmation or reports of senior Hamas officials being killed.
Residents on the outskirts of the camp said the area was known to be guarded by Hamas security guards – not unusual for Ain Al Hilweh, where the armed movement maintains a role in the camp's security and governance.
“It’s not an excuse, no rhyme or reason,” said a Lebanese resident of a neighbourhood adjacent to Ain Al Hilweh. “I feel so sad for the boys who were killed.”
Rescue workers were still at the site on Wednesday afternoon, while the normally busy entrance of Ain Al Hilweh and the surrounding market was unusually quiet. Schools in Sidon were also closed for the day.
Fadi Salameh, the administrative director of Hamshari Hospital near Ain Al Hilweh, said the hospital had received five bodies and another five were sent to the nearby Hammoud Hospital – adding that most of the casualties were born between 2001-2009 but that the IDs of the victims had not all been received yet.
Mouna Noufal, who lives inside Ain Al Hilweh, told The National she was visiting her friend near the Khaled bin Walid mosque when she felt the Israeli missile impact.
“I was so terrified. And my friend, who has blood pressure problems and diabetes, went completely yellow,” said Mouna Noufal, a resident of Ain Al Hilweh who was visiting her friend nearby.
“We had to take her to the hospital,” she said of her friend, “but there weren’t any hospitals that could take her in because they were busy taking in casualties”.
Low drones hovered overhead throughout the day before the attack, said Ahmed Afar, 57, a mechanic who lives on the outskirts of Ain Al Helweh.
“We heard a sound, boom, the house shook, and then we heard the jets,” he said, mimicking the loud hum of a warplane. His wife woke up screaming their children’s names, fearing they had been hurt. “We didn’t know where they had struck, but then we saw the news that they targeted children playing.”
He said the blast was stronger than anything he heard during the two months of intense Israeli bombardment last year.
Israeli army spokesman Lt Col Avichay Adraee repeated his claims on Wednesday, without providing evidence, that the area attacked was a training complex.
Like Mr Afar, many residents of Sidon are still in shock that a football field became a military target. But he said he was not surprised. “They’re doing it just because they can,” he said. He views the attack as a way of pressuring Lebanese and Palestinians to quickly disarm Hezbollah and Hamas in Lebanon. “It's pressure to agree to their deals.”
Israel has increased its attacks on Lebanon in recent weeks, claiming the Lebanese state is not moving quickly enough to disarm Hezbollah and warning of further escalation.
Under a US-brokered ceasefire deal agreed last year between Hezbollah and Israel, Israel was to completely withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon and stop breaching the country’s sovereignty, while Hezbollah was required to surrender its weapons in stages.
Despite the ceasefire, Israel has struck Lebanon on a daily basis – killing more than 100 civilians in the last year. It has also maintained an occupation of five positions in southern Lebanon.
Israel said it would not stop its attacks, which it says target Hezbollah, until the group is completely disarmed, while Hezbollah says it will not disarm until Israel has withdrawn.
The overcrowded, densely populated camp is the largest of Lebanon's 12 official Palestinian refugee camps and is situated in the southern city of Sidon. The UN Relief and Works Agency estimates the population at about 60,000 registered refugees, although the actual number is believed to be higher owing to the migration of Palestinian refugees from Syria.
Following a meeting of senior figures from the city on Wednesday, the Mufti of Sidon Sheikh Salim Soussan announced that a mass funeral will be held at Ain Al Hilweh on Thursday.
Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group and political party, condemned the attacks.
“The Lebanese state must realise that showing any leniency, weakness, or submission to this enemy will only increase its ferocity, brutality, and aggression, and that merely reacting in a manner that falls short of addressing the aggression will only lead to further attacks and massacres,” it said.
The Israeli army on Wednesday issued eviction orders for four villages in southern Lebanon – Shehour, Deir Kifa, Aynata and Tayr Felsay – shortly before it began launching strikes on what it claimed was Hezbollah infrastructure.
The military has resumed issuing eviction orders in southern Lebanon after a lull during the summer, in what many in Lebanon perceive as a move to apply psychological pressure.
Also, on Wednesday morning an Israeli air strike killed one person and injured 12 others in the village of Al Tiri in southern Lebanon. The deceased victim was identified as Bilal Chaito, the treasurer of Al Tiri's municipality. Among the injured were students aboard a university bus driven by Mr Chaito.
