Why did Israel attack Lebanon’s biggest Palestinian refugee camp?

Israel has bombed the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh in Lebanon as it has escalated its attacks inside its northern neighbour, ostensibly to target Hezbollah and armed Palestinian factions after almost a year of cross-border exchanges.

In the narrow alleys of the densely populated Palestinian camp near the coastal city of Sidon, people wailed frantically in the aftermath of the Israeli bombing overnight on Tuesday, a video verified by Al Jazeera shows. In the video, a man rushes towards the whirring red lights of an ambulance, carrying the frail body of what appears to be an injured child.

This is the first attack on the Palestinian refugee camp since Israel military launched attacks on Lebanon last on Monday last week, killing top Hezbollah leaders, including its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in two weeks of Israeli strikes, and a purported ground operation launched overnight on Tuesday has raised fears of a wider regional war.

Here’s more about the attack and the camp itself:

What happened in the camp?

An Israeli air strike hit the camp overnight on Tuesday, reportedly killing five people. It was the first time the camp was attacked during the current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The strike reportedly targeted the home of Munir al-Maqdah, a brigadier general in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a coalition of Palestinian armed groups aligned with the Fatah movement.

Al-Maqdah survived the attack, the Al Mayadeen news outlet reported, citing a Palestinian source. His son, Hassan al-Maqdah, however, is reported to have been killed in the bombing.

At least four buildings collapsed as a result, according to Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, who reported from the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

What is the significance of this attack?

The attack on the camp is significant due to its history, as well as its strategic location, with Israel viewing it as a place linked to armed groups and security threats, according to an expert.

“Ein el-Hilweh has been frequently cited by Israel as a hub for potential cross-border attacks or as a base for armed groups sympathetic to Hezbollah or other anti-Israeli forces,” Jasmin Lilian Diab, director of the Institute for Migration Studies at the Lebanese American University, told Al Jazeera.

“In this instance, Israel’s stated objective is likely to neutralise militant factions within the camp that they claim pose a direct security threat. However today, as in the past, such attacks have served as justifications for broader attacks on Palestinian livelihoods, ultimately leading to widespread destruction and civilian casualties,” she added.

Has the camp been targeted by Israel in the past?

As early as 1974, Israeli fighter jets bombed the camp alongside other Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, in attacks billed as a response to blasts linked to the armed groups.

At that time, the attacks were considered the heaviest ever air attacks carried out in Lebanon, with several killed and dozens wounded among the population of the camp, then 20,000 people.

In 1982, during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the Israeli army once again heavily bombed the camp, reducing buildings to rubble. The camp was nearly destroyed, but the number of those killed or wounded among the camp’s 25,000 residents at the time remains unclear.

Dozens more Israeli air strikes were recorded in the decade that followed, including after Israel’s retreat from Beirut in 1985.

“Past attacks and this recent one, can further be interpreted as part of Israel’s long-term strategy to destabilise Palestinian communities in Lebanon, making the refugee situation and Palestinian cause even more untenable,” said Diab.

Residents and rescue teams inspect the damage following an overnight Israeli air strike on the Ain el-Helweh camp for Palestinian refugees on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon  [Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP]

What is the history of the camp?

Ein el-Hilweh is described as the “capital” of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, as it is the largest of 12 Palestinian camps in the country. It’s now a bustling, if impoverished, area near Sidon.

“This is a refugee camp with a lot of narrow alleyways, very populated, [with] more than 130,000 people living there,” said Al Jazeera’s Hashem.

Like many other Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and neighbouring countries, Ein el-Hilweh was established in the aftermath of the Nakba or the “catastrophe” in 1948, when at least 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed from their homes by Zionist militias during the establishment of the Israeli state.

Ein el-Hilweh was originally established by the International Committee of the Red Cross to cater to the newly arrived Palestinian refugees from what is now Israel.

Under an agreement, the Lebanese army does not enter the camp, leaving its internal security to the many Palestinian factions inside.

[Al Jazeera]

Who lives in the camps?

Most of the camp’s early residents had been people displaced from northern Palestinian coastal towns, which now form part of Israel.

Now its inhabitants are largely Palestinian refugees who were displaced from other parts of Lebanon during the country’s civil war and in the aftermath of the Nahr el-Bared conflict in 2007 when fighting broke out between Fatah al-Islam, an armed group, and the Lebanese army.

The camp’s population was affected by Syria’s war as many Palestinians living there sought refuge in Lebanon and resettled in the camp.

The population is mostly Sunni Muslim Palestinians, but there are also a small number of other Muslim and Christian families, according to Diab from the Lebanese American University.

What is the condition of the camp?

Conditions in Ein el-Hilweh are dire, said Diab, with refugees living in “cramped, overcrowded, and poorly serviced conditions”.

“Many buildings are unstable, and essential services like healthcare, electricity, and water are severely lacking,” she said.

The camp is surrounded by a large wall, and access is limited. Materials used for building and construction within the camp are regulated by the Lebanese army, which also manages several checkpoints that lead to the camp.

Additionally, the camp is characterised by an unpredictable security situation due to the presence of multiple armed actors and the widespread availability of weapons, according to the Palestinians Refugee Agency (UNWRA).

Fighting there between various Palestinian factions between July and September 2023 left at least 30 people dead and hundreds injured, and caused widespread damage to shelters and infrastructure, UNRWA, which manages Palestinian refugees in several Arab countries, reported.

Meanwhile, poverty rates among Palestinian refugees in the camp as well as in other areas is high, with 80 percent reported to be living below the national poverty line as of March 2023, according to UNWRA.

Have other Palestinian areas in Lebanon been targeted by Israel in recent weeks?

Early on Monday, an Israeli strike hit the Kola bridge area of central Beirut.

The assault killed at least three people, with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an armed Marxist-Leninist group active in Lebanon and Gaza, claiming that the trio were its members.

A separate attack on Monday in the el-Buss refugee camp in the southern city of Tyre, killed the Hamas commander in Lebanon, Fateh Sharif, the armed group said in a statement. His family members were also reported killed.

Additionally, the air attacks which killed Hezbollah chief Nasrallah on Friday night in Beirut were so forceful, they damaged the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp nearby.

According to Al Jazeera correspondents on the ground, the attack led to glass shattering, doors blown off from their hinges, cars crashing and people fleeing for their safety, with the camp now largely deserted.

Diab said that a full-scale Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon would likely exacerbate the already critical situation for Palestinian refugees in camps like Ein el-Hilweh. More than 500,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon across 12 camps.

“The camp could face increased military pressure, with potential ground operations or further air strikes directly targeting it. This could lead to further mass displacement of Palestinian refugees both within Lebanon and potentially across borders if conditions worsen,” she said.

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon already face severe restrictions on their movement, employment, and rights in Lebanon, which could deepen with another round of hostilities, the academic added.