The Israeli airstrike on the Hamas military compound in Ain al-Hilweh (18 November 2025), that killed 13 Hamas operatives, directly contradicts Lebanon’s proclaimed success in Palestinian disarmament. Since August 2025, the Lebanese government has repeatedly declared “effective operations” to enforce the state’s monopoly on arms. Officials celebrated negotiated handovers—five truckloads of weapons from Ain al-Hilweh in September—and framed the process as a sovereign triumph, with the Lebanese Army collecting light and medium arms from Fatah and other factions while promising socio-economic incentives. Yet the neutralization of this large gathering of Hamas operatives proves that armed #Jihad networks retain full operational freedom in the Palestinian strongholds across Lebanon. The Lebanese Army never fully and effectively confronted these threats. The IDF strike exposes the disarmament campaign as superficial theater. Where Beirut claimed victory, militants still rule—and Israeli airstrikes now fill the vacuum Lebanon refuses to confront. This is also the result of continued construction of terror infrastructure by Hamas across Lebanon. We warned of Hamas growing military strength in Lebanon since 2021 starting with our Special report.
