BEIRUT: Clashes resumed in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp on Friday, with heavy gunfire and shelling injuring several people and forcing residents of the camp as well as surrounding areas to flee.
In the Ein el-Hilweh camp, several days of street battles broke out between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement and Islamist groups after Fatah accused the Islamists of shooting dead one of their military generals on July 30. At least 13 dead and dozens injured while hundreds were forced to flee their homes, according to media reports.
An uneasy ceasefire had been in place since August 3, but clashes were widely expected to resume after the militant groups failed to hand over the accused killer of Fatah general Mohammad “Abu Ashraf” Al-Armoushi to the Lebanese judiciary as they had demanded.
The Palestinian factions’ committee in Ein el-Hilweh announced on Tuesday that their joint security forces would launch raids in search of the accused killers. In an effort to prevent efforts by joint security forces to remove the militants from the schools they had captured in the camp on Friday, Fatah leaders claimed that the Islamist factions initiated the attack on Thursday night.
No immediate reports of death in clashes
According to state media six people were injured, including an elderly man, and were taken to hospitals overnight. There were no immediate reports of deaths. The public Lebanese University announced it would close its branches in the city of Sidon, which borders the camp, and postpone scheduled exams in light of the fighting.
Officials with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA) could not immediately provide information on the number of casualties or displaced persons.
UNRWA last week requested $15.5 million to repair infrastructure damaged in the latest round of clashes in the camp, provide alternative education places for children whose schools have been damaged or occupied by militants, and provide financial assistance to people who have been displaced from their homes.
