MEE Staff
Middle East Eye / July 31, 2023
Fatah and rival armed factions exchange fire as dozens of families flee violence in Saida’s Ain al-Hilweh.
Heavy fighting between armed Palestinian groups in a Lebanese refugee camp resumed on Monday morning for a third day, according to local media.
At least three people died in the renewed fighting, raising the death toll since clashes began on Saturday to nine. More than 40 people have been wounded.
Tensions spiked at Saida’s Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp over the weekend following the failed assassination attempt on a senior member of a local rival of the group Fatah, which controls security in the camp.
Amongst those killed on Sunday was Abu Sheref al-Armoushi, a senior Fatah commander in the camp, along with four of his guards. All five were shot dead in an ambush by unknown assailants.
Fighting escalated between Fatah fighters and armed factions following Armoushi’s killing, including the use of heavy machine guns, grenades and shoulder-fired missiles.
A ceasefire was reached late on Sunday at a meeting between different local groups that included representatives of Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal movement, which holds sway in southern Lebanon.
However, the official Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) said fighting resumed on Monday morning as clashes were heard throughout Saida.
A missile fell outside the camp in the southern part of the city but only did limited damage, according to the NNA.
The agency added that fighting has paralyzed activity in schools, universities and community centres, as people either sheltered indoors or fled the camp entirely to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
Dorothee Klaus, director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, UNRWA, said the fighting has displaced at least 200 families so far.
The UN agency said on Sunday it was suspending all operations in the camp amid the fighting, which has damaged two UNRWA schools.
Ain al-Hilweh is located in Saida in southern Lebanon and is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in the country. It houses a population of nearly 80,000 people who live in an area of just 1.5 square kilometres.
More than 480,000 registered Palestinian refugees are living in 12 camps across Lebanon.
Security and governance inside the camps are the responsibility of Palestinian factions, mainly Fatah.
Lebanese forces do not intervene in security matters within the camps but control checkpoints leading to them.
Clashes sometimes occur between Fatah and activists from small armed groups who control streets and neighbourhoods in the camp and who push back Fatah activists from some checkpoints in the area.
Last August a senior Fatah official was shot dead by an unidentified assailant in the camp and limited clashes took place in 2021.
