The clashes erupted on Saturday evening between gunmen affiliated with the Fatah movement and others affiliated with extremist Islamic organizations. Although talks continue to reach a calm, there is no looming ceasefire so far on the horizon.
Two people were killed, Monday, as a result of the ongoing clashes in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, bringing the death toll to eight in three days, according to two medical sources, according to Agence France-Presse.
Violent clashes erupted on Saturday evening in Ain al-Hilweh, the largest and most densely populated Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, between members of the Fatah movement and others belonging to extremist Islamic groups. It initially resulted in the death of a member of the Islamic groups, before a leader in the Fatah movement and four of his comrades were killed on Sunday in an elaborate ambush.
The director of Al-Hamshari Hospital in Sidon, Riyad Abu Al-Enein, reported the death of a 31-year-old man who was wounded in the chest and abdomen while he was undergoing surgery, indicating that 13 wounded people arrived at the hospital, including one who was in serious condition.
In turn, Norma Mohsen, the nursing officer at Al-Rai Hospital in Sidon, said: “We have received six wounded and one death today.”
Ceasefire talks
On Sunday, a ceasefire agreement was reached, but it did not prevent limited skirmishes throughout the night, which intensified on Monday, according to an AFP correspondent in the city of Sidon, where the camp is located.
Likewise, the official National News Agency referred to the “increase in the frequency of clashes” in which heavy weapons are used, and they are concentrated in the area of Al-Tawra’a neighborhood, which is considered a stronghold of extremist Islamic groups.
And representatives of Palestinian factions held two meetings in Beirut and Sidon with Lebanese political parties in an attempt to stabilize the cease-fire. An official involved in the ceasefire negotiations said: “There is pressure to completely prevent escalation, and things are supposed to return to normal soon.”
displacement wave
Since Monday morning, an AFP correspondent has seen dozens, most of them women and children, carrying light luggage, leaving the camp through the Lebanese army checkpoints. Over the past two days, dozens have taken refuge in a nearby mosque.
A 75-year-old displaced woman, who refused to reveal her name, said: “We fled from the battle zone. The shells are falling in the streets. A shell may fall on anyone who leaves his house.” She added, “We took up arms to fight Israel, not to fight each other and be displaced. We are basically displaced.”
Several shells fell outside the borders of the camp during the past two days. Likewise, a hospital adjacent to the camp evacuated its patients to other hospitals in Sidon, in which a number of shops closed their doors for fear of escalation.
More than 54,000 Palestinian refugees registered with the United Nations live in Ain al-Hilweh camp, who have been joined over the past years by thousands of Palestinians fleeing the conflict in Syria. The camp is known for harboring extremist Islamic groups and outlaws.
The camp often witnesses assassinations and sometimes clashes, especially between Palestinian factions and extremist Islamic groups.
The Lebanese security forces do not enter the camps according to an agreement between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Lebanese authorities, and the Palestinian factions assume a kind of self-security inside the camps.
2023-07-31 14:19:42
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