Middle East Monitor / August 1, 2023
The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement has been exerting a lot of effort in order to “stabilize” the ceasefire in Palestinian Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon.
“Meetings with all national and Islamic Palestinian factions have been held,” explained Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha. He pointed out that Lebanese officials from all levels are taking part in the meetings, and added that the root causes and consequences of the deadly clashes in the camp are being addressed, including the provision of emergency aid.
The Hamas official called for all of the Palestinian people, as well as the Islamic and national factions, to be “responsible towards the issues of the Palestinians and to cut short all routes that lead to sedition and destabilizing the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.”
At least nine people were killed and dozens more were wounded in three days of fighting in Ain al-Hilweh, which is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. Renewed gunfire and shelling on Monday forced many terrified residents to flee their homes in the camp.
Ain al-Hilweh had a population of over 70,000 Palestinian refugees, but that swelled to nearly 120,000 as a result of the influx of Palestinian refugees from Syria since 2011. Despite this huge increase, the size of the camp remains the same 1.5 square km that it has always been.
