In his speech about the events of the Ain al-Hilweh camp yesterday, Army Commander Joseph Aoun was completely decisive when he said: “There is no intention or effort on the part of the army to enter the Ain al-Hilweh camp,” and he added: “We have taken all measures and deployed a military force around the camp to prevent the fighting from spreading to “Outside it.”
The messages that Aoun sent were clear, and whoever reads between their lines will find many security details. Aoun said that “the army will not enter the camp,” but he did not say that the latter “will not interfere” in any events that may occur later.. The difference between the two phrases is one letter and a severity, and the army will say its word “one letter and a severity” in the event of any new violation. Security affects Sidon and its environs, and this matter has become known to everyone assigned to the Ain al-Hilweh file. Also, Aoun did not explicitly declare the army’s inability to resolve matters. In the camp, quite simply, what the army commander mentioned was clear in terms of the military institution’s commitment to the content of the agreements that stipulate the army’s presence outside the camps, but that does not mean that it will not be involved in resolving any battle that erupts in Ain al-Hilweh, but from outside its walls.
What Aoun is relying on today is linked to what the Palestinians will do in terms of controlling the camp’s security. Inevitably, the state said its word to the various factions, including the following: “Manage your affairs and we will monitor you… Facilitate the solution and we will support it… otherwise we will have something else to say.” Quite simply, the first step in implementing what the Lebanese official authorities requested regarding controlling the events in Ain al-Hilweh was represented yesterday by the step of strengthening the joint Palestinian security force in Sidon, which now includes various factions, including the Hamas movement, which has distanced itself from that force for more than two years against the backdrop of North Burj camp events. Then, specifically in December 2021, an armed clash took place inside the camp, resulting in a number of deaths during the “funeral” of a Hamas member who died as a result of an explosion that occurred inside the camp. During that incident, Hamas accused the Fatah movement of being behind targeting the funeral and killing people affiliated with it, but the problem did not expand and develop as happened in the Ain al-Hilweh camp.
What will happen at the level of the joint force will not go unnoticed, as the army will keep pace with what that force will do on the field, and Palestinian sources tell “Lebanon 24” that the military institution will never allow any new transgressions, and it has placed every faction in the Ain al-Hilweh camp before its responsibilities, and says: “Every The pillars of the state are waiting for what this joint security force will produce on the ground.. Communications so far have been positive, to the point that the efforts of all Palestinian parties to bring those wanted in the crime of assassinating Fatah leader Major General Abu Ashraf Al-Armushi through the joint force has become clearly evident in the speeches.. But, is “Will this work? The answer is up to the application later.”
How will the army intervene in Ain al-Hilweh?
Militarily and directly, the army did not have any intervention in Ain al-Hilweh, but its deployment was clear and reinforced around the camp, to the point that military elements went up to buildings adjacent to the areas of conflict in the camp and surveyed the situation from there and followed it closely. However, in the midst of all this, the question arises: How will it intervene? The army is in any new expanded event inside the camp? what will he do?
Since the beginning of the battle in late July, the army has not stopped its intelligence work inside the camp, and “Lebanon 24” information says that the Intelligence Directorate accomplished the following: conducting a complete survey of all militant strongholds, assessing and determining their locations of deployment inside the camp, obtaining “data” and information about the types of weapons present. Closing the gaps through which one can exit beyond the camp’s borders, specifically at the outskirts. Exploring all the details related to the violations that led to the collapse of the ceasefire agreements many times during the recent rounds of fighting.
In the event of any battle, the army will have “adequate and updated data” about what is happening inside the camp on the ground.
According to the information, the latest data says that the army’s intervention in the camp will not take place as long as things outside it are under control. The sources say that the parties surrounding Ain al-Hilweh are much more important than those inside it, and they add: “In the camp, there are those who can decide the battle, whether the Fatah movement alone or by force.” Joint security… Also, the entrances are controlled and have also been closed with iron gates now. No matter what violent fighting takes place inside the camp, the army will not be drawn into intervention except in one case, which is the presence of a great danger represented by the movement of the extension that the militants enjoy on the outskirts of Ain al-Hilweh from In order to attack the army and shift the battle towards Sidon and the road to the south.”
According to the sources, Aoun’s talk about preventing “the spread of the fighting outside Ain al-Hilweh” may not mean the exit of armed men, but rather it is possible that there are parties seeking to move immediately if they find that the armed groups inside the camp are making a significant advance. Inevitably, this will give a “dose of hope” to the sleeper cells, but the constant restraining and “breaking” of the militants in the camp makes the deployed cells less enthusiastic about opening parallel fronts because they have no interest in doing so as long as the “key heads” suffer from violent fighting.
In light of all this, it can be said that the army is fully aware of the battle lines and how to draw them, while the risks associated with the camp have become many. The question here is: What is the expected scenario? Are the events of Ain al-Hilweh really considered a “rehearsal” for a larger fighting? The coming days will reveal that!
2023-09-19 09:07:29
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