At least 22 people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli aerial attack on the evening of November 19. Israeli forces targeted Ain Al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, in the city of Sidon, in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) alleged that it waged the assault against a Hamas-run military compound in the camp used to train operatives to attack Israel.

However, Lebanese media reports refuted the IOF’s claims, clarifying that the aerial raid targeted a car in a hangar adjacent to Khalid Ibn al-Walid Mosque inside the camp.

For its part, Hamas issued a statement on Tuesday, denouncing the aggression and denying the IOF’s claim as “pure fabrication and lie aimed at justifying a criminal assault”, and “an incitement against Palestinian refugee camps and the Palestinian people”.

The Palestinian resistance movement also confirmed that it has no military facilities in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

Israel launches a series of airstrikes across southern Lebanon after the Ain Al-Hilweh massacre

On Wednesday, November 19, the IOF targeted a vehicle in the village of Al-Tiri in Bent Jbeil municipality in southern Lebanon, killing one person and wounding 11 others, including students aboard a nearby school bus.

Later that day, Israeli warplanes launched a series of airstrikes on the towns of Deir Kifa and Shehour in the governorate of Tyre in southern Lebanon. The IOF claimed that the offensive targeted Hezbollah military infrastructure.

The Israeli escalation against Lebanon on Wednesday came one day after the United States announced that it cancelled scheduled meetings for Lebanese Army Chief General Rodolphe Haykal in Washington, hours before his departure.

No explanation for the cancellation was provided in the announcement. Yet, local and international media outlets cited unnamed Lebanese sources, who suggested that the cancellation was triggered by a statement issued by the Lebanese Army on Sunday, November 16.

The statement is believed to have provoked the anger of the Trump administration, because it accused Israel of “insisting on violating Lebanese sovereignty, causing instability and obstructing the army’s deployment” in southern Lebanon.

Furthermore, analysts argue that calling off Hakal’s visit reflects the growing US frustration over the Lebanese state’s delay in disarming Hezbollah.

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