IDF strikes Hamas facility near Lebanon’s Sidon; local officials say 13 killed

The Israel Defense Forces carried out an airstrike Tuesday in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon. The strike killed 13 people, according to Lebanese authorities.

The IDF confirmed the strike, saying it targeted terror operatives at a Hamas training facility.

Contrary to some preliminary Lebanese reports, the Israeli strike targeted a building some 60 meters from the Khalid bin al-Walid mosque, and not the mosque itself.

According to the IDF, the “military compound” was used by Hamas operatives for training “in order to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel.”

The military said it took steps to mitigate harm to civilians in the strike, including by using “a precision munition, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.”

“The IDF is operating against Hamas’s entrenchment in Lebanon, and will continue to operate against Hamas terrorists wherever they operate,” the military added.

The terror group’s operatives in the area prevented journalists from reaching the scene, as ambulances rushed to evacuate the wounded and the dead.

An IDF strike against a Hamas training facility in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon, Lebanon, on November 18, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The strike marked a relatively rare case of an Israeli attack on Hamas in Lebanon, in contrast to near-daily strikes against Hezbollah operatives there.

In July, a prominent Hamas commander was killed in a strike in Tripoli, and before that, in May, another commander in the group was killed in Sidon.

In a statement on the strike in Ain al-Hilweh, the terror group claimed it has no military installations in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

Blaming Israel for the “brutal assault,” Hamas said that “claims that the targeted location was a ‘training compound affiliated with the movement’ are pure fabrications and lies.

“There are no military installations in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon,” it said.

Commenting on an IDF video of the strike, Hamas claimed that “the targeted site was an open sports field frequented by the youth of the camp,” and that “those targeted were a group of young boys” on the field at the time.

Earlier on Tuesday, two strikes were reported in southern Lebanon — one in Blida, the other in Bint Jbeil.

Each of the two strikes killed one person, according to Lebanese media.

The IDF on Wednesday confirmed killing two Hezbollah operatives in separate drone strikes.

According to the military, the first strike in the Bint Jbeil area killed a member of the terror group who was involved in restoring Hezbollah infrastructure.

The second strike, in Blida, killed a Hezbollah operative who was identified as collecting intelligence on Israeli forces, the IDF said.

The military said the actions of both operatives “constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

Israeli airstrikes target Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon, November 18, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The strikes came amid ramped-up military operations aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rearming.

A ceasefire last November sought to end more than a year of hostilities, including two months of all-out war, between Israel and the terror group.

Under the terms of the truce, Israel was to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon, but has insisted on maintaining troops in five areas it deems to be of strategic importance.

It has also kept up regular strikes on what it says are Hezbollah targets breaching the ceasefire, arguing that under the terms of the ceasefire, it has the right to strike at threats to Israel’s security.

At the same time, Hezbollah was required to vacate southern Lebanon and disarm, while allowing the Lebanese Armed Forces to deploy across the region.

But Israeli officials say Hezbollah is accelerating efforts to re-arm and accuse the Lebanese army of failing to confront it.

Nurit Yohanan and agencies contributed to this report.