A violent clash for the past three days between rival factions in a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon has resulted in at least 11 fatalities, as reported by the US-based news outlet New York Times.The conflict was triggered when another Palestinian gang killed a senior member of the Fatah faction and four of his bodyguards on Saturday at Ein al-Hilweh, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, as per reports from the Lebanese state media.🚨 #BREAKING | #Israel |#Palestine | #Falasteen | #Lebanon #لبنان | #فلسطينFatah forces are trying to storm the emergency neighborhood in Ain al-Hilweh camp after completing a ring of siege around the neighborhood. The neighborhood is a stronghold of the jihadist Jund al-Sham pic.twitter.com/jz6UDUOebP— Bot News (@BotNews18) July 31, 2023The Fatah political group oversees the Palestinian Authority, responsible for managing parts of the occupied West Bank.According to a Fatah commander, the group is attempting to encircle the Jund al-Sham organization, which is believed to be behind the Saturday attack. Ein al-Hilweh has been the site of past clashes between the Islamist organisation Jund al-Sham and Fatah.As violence escalates, Riad Abo Elaynein, an administrator at a nearby private hospital, stated, “The clashes are expanding,” noting that the sounds of shelling continue within the camp.🚨 #BREAKING | #Lebanon | #Fatah | #Palestine #لبنان #فلسطينInformation that Fatah brings 1,000 of its members to other camps. For the battle with Osbat al-Ansar in Ain al-Hilweh camp pic.twitter.com/XpiYpbeg98— Bot News (@BotNews18) July 30, 2023Simultaneously, Palestinian organisations, including Fatah and Hamas, were holding reconciliation talks in Egypt in an effort to achieve Palestinian national unity. However, this endeavour comes at a time when the political establishment within Palestine remains deeply fractured since Hamas assumed control of the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority in 2007.Ein al-Hilweh, accommodating over 63,000 people, mainly Palestinians and their descendants displaced during the establishment of Israel in 1948, experiences regular clashes between Palestinian groups due to its densely packed layout and contested administration.In 2017, clashes between Fatah and Islamist groups led to nearly 20 fatalities and numerous injuries after the dissolution of a joint security force aimed at preventing conflicts within the camp.The Lebanese army rarely enters the camp, which is enclosed by walls, and various armed forces, including Hezbollah, control different regions of Lebanon. However, the camps violence could spill over to Sidon, a coastal city south of Beirut.“We support what the Lebanese government is doing to impose law and order and we affirm our keenness on Lebanons sovereignty, including Palestinian refugee camps, and maintaining security and law,” Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, said in a statement released by the group.UN refugee agency opens shelter for Palestine refugees cease-fire talks on in LebanonAs the situation remains volatile, the UN Palestinian refugee agency, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), reported 11 deaths, 40 injuries, and the displacement of around 2,000 residents. An evacuated government hospital on the outskirts of the camp has transferred patients to other medical facilities.Palestinian factions within the camp are engaging in discussions to establish a cease-fire, while Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killings as a threat to camp stability, and called it a terrorist assassination of the Palestinian Authority security forces.Meanwhile, UNRWA has opened schools to shelter those fleeing the conflict, and ambulances are stationed at the camp entrance to treat and transport the wounded.In addition to civilian casualties, several Lebanese soldiers sustained injuries when an artillery shell from the camp struck a military base, and other army posts were under fire. The Lebanese army has issued a warning and vowed to respond to any further attacks.“The Army Command warns of the consequences of exposing military posts and their personnel to danger, whatever the reasons, and stresses that the Army will respond to the sources of fire in kind,” the Lebanese Army said in a statement.
