UPDATE - 1 killed in Israeli drone strike on Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon

UPDATE WITH 1 CASULTY, CHANGES IN LEDE AND HEADLINE

By Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) – One person was killed, and several others were injured when an Israeli drone fired three missiles at the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon on Friday.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported that the strike hit the Hittin neighborhood inside the densely populated camp, located near the southern city of Sidon.

The attack resulted in one fatality and an unspecified number of injuries, the news agency added.

The airstrike caused material damage to the targeted building and surrounding structures.

Ambulances immediately arrived at the scene and transported the injured to hospitals in Sidon, which issued an urgent appeal for blood donations due to the severity of the injuries.

The Israeli military claimed in a statement that it struck a Hamas command center in the Ain al-Hilweh area.

The Israeli army carried out a similar strike in Nov. 2025 on the same area where at least 13 people were killed, and several others were injured. Later, the army claimed that the attack targeted Hamas members inside the camp. It is alleged that the targeted facility was being used to plot attacks against Israel.

However, Hamas decried the attack as a “brutal assault” on civilians, saying the Israeli strike targeted a group of teenagers on an open sports field.

The latest attacks came amid repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement reached in Nov. 2024, killing and wounding hundreds of Lebanese. Israel continues to occupy five Lebanese hilltops seized during the latest war, in addition to other Lebanese areas it has held for decades.