Israeli army says it struck 'Hamas training compound' in Lebanon, killing at least 13

Lebanon said an Israeli strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in the country's south killed at least 13 people on Tuesday in an updated toll, as Israel said it struck a Hamas compound.

Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreed last November that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah – an ally of Hamas – including two months of full-blown war.

Israel usually says it is targeting operatives or sites belonging to the Iran-backed Hezbollah, but it has also struck Hamas operatives in Lebanon, both during the hostilities and since the ceasefire.

In an updated toll, the health ministry reported "13 dead and a number of others wounded" in the strike in the Ain al-Helweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the city of Sidon, adding that "ambulances are still transporting more wounded to nearby hospitals".

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the strike targeted a car near the Khalid bin al-Walid mosque and that "subsequently it was reported that the raid also targeted" the mosque itself and a centre of the same name.

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The Israeli military claimed it had struck a Hamas compound that was being used by the militant group for exercises and training.

"The IDF (military) struck terrorists who operated in a Hamas training compound in the Ain al-Helweh area in southern Lebanon," it said in a brief statement, adding that they were "operating against Hamas's establishment in Lebanon".

After the strike, the militant group said it has "no military installations" in Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lebanon said Israeli strikes on cars elsewhere in the country's south killed two people.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment on those raids.

Over the past two years, Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon have killed scores of officials from the militant Hezbollah group as well as Palestinian factions.

Hamas led the October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. Israel's offensive since then on the Gaza Strip has killed over 69,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority are women and children.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP)