The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian factions took a dramatic turn on Monday with the confirmation of the death of Hamas’ leader in Lebanon, Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine. According to a statement from Hamas, Abu al-Amine was killed alongside his wife, son, and daughter in an airstrike targeting their home in the Al-Bass refugee camp in southern Lebanon. The group described the attack as a “terrorist and criminal assassination.”
The official National News Agency of Lebanon reported the airstrike on Al-Bass, located near the city of Tyre, calling it the first time the camp had been directly targeted. This incident follows an earlier strike on Beirut’s Kola district, which killed three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) early Monday morning.
Israel has been repeatedly targeting Hamas officials in Lebanon since the eruption of the Gaza war nearly a year ago. This escalating aggression began in January when a US defense official confirmed an Israeli airstrike targeting Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri and six other militants in Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold. In August, another Israeli strike on a vehicle in Sidon, south Lebanon, claimed the life of Hamas commander Samer al-Hajj.
The official Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon were established for Palestinians who fled or were driven out during the 1948 war that led to Israel’s creation. By longstanding convention, the Lebanese army refrains from entering these camps, leaving security matters in the hands of the Palestinian factions. The recent escalation in Israeli strikes on these camps has raised concerns about the potential for broader conflict in the region.
