Middle East Monitor / August 10, 2023
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) yesterday announced the resumption of its operations in Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, south Lebanon, after a week of suspending services due to armed clashes in the area, Anadolu news agency reported.
“The second health centre reopened today, Wednesday, and medical care for Palestine refugee patients resumed. Parents brought many children, including newborns to the clinic for treatment and vaccination,” UNRWA said in a statement.
Director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, Dorothee Klaus, hoped the camp would remain calm, adding that UNRWA will consecutively support clearance of rubble and reinstatement of damaged water networks and electricity lines.
“Today, I heard about families who were unable to leave their homes for several days because of the clashes, people who were injured while fleeing, children who cried in fear, and women whose hair turned white,” she said.
Last Thursday, a spokesman for the Islamic Welfare Authority in Sidon, Ihab Tutanji, told Anadolu Agency that a total of 4,000 refugees have been displaced from the camp and were staying in public schools and residential communities in the vicinity of the camp near the city of Sidon.
On 29 July, clashes erupted in Ain al-Hilweh camp between Islamist factions and the National Security Forces of the Fatah movement, before a ceasefire agreement was released.
The clashes resulted in 12 deaths and more than 60 injuries in the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.
