meaning "sweet natural spring"), also spelled as Ayn al-Hilweh and Ein El Hilweh, is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.

Ain al-Hilweh was established near the city of Sidon in 1948 by the International Committee of the Red Cross to accommodate refugees from Amqa, Saffuriya, Sha'ab, Taitaba, Manshieh, al-Simireh, al-Nahr, Safsaf, Hittin, al-Ras al-Ahmar, al-Tira and Tarshiha in northern Palestine.

Dov Yermiya was to later liken the bombardment used on the refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh as of an intensity which recalled the quantity of bombs used in World War 2 and described the destruction as 100%.

[6] There was prolonged fighting in Ain al-Hilweh, culminating with the Palestinian defenders making a last stand at a mosque which was thereupon blown up by the IDF.

Israeli historian Gil'ad Be'eri gives the following account (...) The Refugee camps were heavily fortified, full of bunkers and fire positions.

The Palestinian defence at Ein El Hilweh and other refugee camps was based on hand-carried anti-tank weapons such as the RPG (Rocket propelled grenade).

The built-up area inhibited long-range weapons, created an equality between the tank and the RPG (often wielded by 13- or 14-year-old boys), and increased the number of Israeli casualties.

The method adopted by the army was to use loud-speakers to call upon the civilian population to move away, search the houses one by one, surround points of remaining active resistance and subdue them by overwhelming fire.

[8] On 24 November 1986 a coalition of fighters from all of the main factions in the camp launched an offensive against Amal positions in the strategic village of Maghdouché overlooking Sidon.

[9] Israeli Air Force airstrikes, 6 & 8 May 1987, on a residential area of Ain al-Hilweh killed fifteen people, wounded fifty and destroyed twenty houses.

Four months later, 6 September, another air raid on a militants headquarters in Ain al-Hilweh killed fifty-six people and wounded one hundred and ninety.

[12] On 4 July 1991, following the failure of disarmament negotiations, as required by the Taif agreement, the Lebanese Army attacked Palestinian positions in Southern Lebanon.

The offensive, involving 10,000 troops against an estimated 5,000 militia, lasted 3 days and ended with the Army taking all the Palestinian positions around Sidon.

[3] In 1999 a Lebanese court convicted the leader of Fatah in Lebanon, Sultan Abu al-Aynayn, of "forming an armed gang" and sentenced him in absentia to death.

The shooting occurred while returning from the funeral of a Fatah member and family relative, Ibrahim Shraidi who was gunned down by an unknown assailant.

These clashes follow a tense three weeks in Lebanon's north, where the Lebanese Army has been battling militant group Fatah al-Islam at the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Bared.

[26][27] On July 30, 2023, fighting broke out inside the camp when gunmen tried to assassinate Islamist militant Mahmoud Khalil, killing a companion of his instead.