The Israeli Air Force launched a wave of airstrikes Wednesday afternoon on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, the military said, shortly after issuing evacuation warnings to residents of several villages.
The strikes began around 3:30 p.m. in the villages of Deir Kifa and Chehour, following a public warning by IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, who urged residents to evacuate buildings suspected of housing Hezbollah military infrastructure. About 30 minutes later, Adraee issued similar warnings for the villages of Aynata and Tayr Felsay, where the military struck shortly after.
Israeli airstrikes hit Chehour, southern Lebanon
In what he labeled an “urgent warning,” Adraee wrote: “The IDF will soon strike Hezbollah military infrastructure in an effort to disrupt its attempts to restore operations in the area. We urge residents of the designated building and nearby structures to evacuate immediately for their safety.”
The new round of strikes came a day after an Israeli airstrike killed 14 Hamas operatives and wounded 28 others in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon. Hezbollah-affiliated media described the strike as a “massacre,” claiming it targeted civilians.
In response, the IDF released a recruitment flyer found in the camp that invited Palestinian youth to join what it described as the “resistance,” encouraging them to register at three locations in Ain al-Hilweh — one of 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. One of the recruitment sites, near the Khalid Ibn al-Walid Mosque, was struck in Tuesday’s operation.
“This was not a peaceful facility, as some reports claimed,” Adraee said in an online statement. “As for the lies, slander and talk of a ‘massacre’ — it is a desperate attempt by Hamas and some Lebanese elements to cover up real terror.”
On Tuesday, Lebanese media reported that schools in Sidon would be closed Wednesday in response to the airstrike and as a general protest against what they termed “crimes of the occupation.”
That morning, local channels broadcast footage of destruction in the strike zone and reported a general strike in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp. One outlet affiliated with the Shiite axis wrote: “This morning in Ain al-Hilweh was unlike any other. The camp awoke to a wound reminiscent only of the Nakba, to blood unjustly spilled under the missiles of the Zionist entity [sic], which continues to pursue Palestinians everywhere, even in camps they believed to be their last refuge.”
The camp is among several that, in recent weeks, transferred weapons to the Lebanese army — at least those belonging to the Palestine Liberation Organization, according to Palestinian security officials in Lebanon.
On September 13, the Lebanese Armed Forces announced on X that “as part of the disarmament process in the Palestinian camps, the army received five truckloads of weapons from Ain al-Hilweh near Sidon and three truckloads from Beddawi camp near Tripoli. The delivery included various types of weapons and ammunition. Relevant army units received them for inspection and further action.” Still, Ain al-Hilweh remains a heavily armed stronghold of terrorist activity.
The Lebanese National News Agency reported a meeting in Sidon on Wednesday between prominent local figures to discuss a joint condemnation of the strike and to express solidarity with the families of the dead and wounded. A unified statement is expected to be released at the conclusion of the meeting.
An Israeli strike on the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon
No official response to the strike has been issued by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. According to a statement from the presidency, Aoun spoke with Lebanese Armed Forces Commander Gen. Rodolphe Haykal on Wednesday, but the conversation concerned the unrelated deaths of two Lebanese soldiers during a raid on suspected drug traffickers in the Baalbek area. The Israeli airstrike was not mentioned.
Hezbollah issued a statement Wednesday afternoon condemning the strike on the refugee camp, claiming it targeted “a densely populated area full of innocent civilians and children.” The group added that the incident “adds to the record of Israeli crimes” and constitutes “another violation of Lebanese sovereignty, the ceasefire agreement and UN Resolution 1701.”
The statement further warned that “the pillars of the Lebanese state must understand that any show of leniency, weakness or submission to the enemy will only embolden it.” According to the Iran-backed group, “Lebanon’s sources of strength are the only guarantee for foiling the enemy’s plans and defending the country's sovereignty and security.”
These developments come amid reports that Gen. Haykal’s scheduled meetings in Washington were canceled, reportedly due to U.S. dissatisfaction with the slow progress of Lebanon’s plan to centralize arms under state control. On Wednesday morning, Lebanese media reported another fatality and 11 injuries in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the village of At-Tiri in southern Lebanon. Among the injured were students traveling in a nearby school bus, according to local reports.