Five people were killed and 52 injured after renewed armed confrontations in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon between fighters from the Fatah movement and a group calling themselves “Muslim Youth.”
The Lebanese official media agency reported that violent confrontations were taking place in the neighborhoods of Ras al-Ahmar, al-Tiri, al-Taamir and al-Ta’are, following an attack launched by Fatah against the strongholds of “Muslim youth.”
The agency reported that the clashes involved medium and heavy weapons and missiles, and damage also affected areas outside the camp in the city of Sidon, southern Lebanon.
The agency quoted the director of Al-Hamshari Hospital in Sidon, Riyad Abu Al-Enein, as saying that the death toll from the clashes that began Thursday rose from 35 wounded to 5 dead and 52 wounded.
A ceasefire agreement was reached between the two parties last Friday following a meeting in a Lebanese army barracks, in the presence of representatives of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
The clashes that broke out last Thursday night resulted in the injury of more than 20 people, in addition to causing damage to buildings and property. It also caused the displacement of dozens of families from the camp, as a number of them took refuge in the mosques of the city of Sidon and the municipal headquarters.
Clashes last July resulted in the killing of 14 people, including the commander of the National Security Forces in the camp affiliated with the Fatah movement, Abu Ashraf Al-Armushi, and 4 of his companions.
Following the intensification of the battles, there was a massive exodus of civilians out of the camp to escape the clashes.
In turn, the Lebanese Army announced in a statement that 5 of its members were injured, one of them in critical condition, as a result of 3 shells falling on a center belonging to its units deployed around the camp.
In its statement, the army renewed its warning to the concerned parties inside the camp “against the consequences of exposing military centers and their personnel to danger,” stressing that it “will take appropriate measures,” according to the statement.
In the same context, the Governor of the South Region announced the closure of the official departments operating in Saraya Sidon, due to security developments, in order to ensure the safety of citizens and employees.
Ain al-Hilweh camp is one of the largest Palestinian camps in Lebanon, along with 11 other camps, where the number of Palestinian refugees in the country is estimated at about 300,000 refugees.
The Lebanese army or security forces do not enter the camps according to previous implicit agreements, leaving the task of maintaining security there to the Palestinians themselves, while the Lebanese army imposes strict measures around them.
2023-09-10 20:31:31
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