The northern entrance to the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh, near Saida, South Lebanon, Aug. 2, 2023. (Credit: Mountasser Abdallah)
BEIRUT — The Palestinian political and military organization Fatah has accused "terrorist groups" of throwing rocks and opening fire from a school compound in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near Saida on Tuesday night.
In a written statement published on Wednesday, Fatah claims members of these groups were seen in Safad, a school in the Bustan al-Quds district of Ain al-Hilweh, on Tuesday night and that they threw students' seats and other belongings. It also says a "sound bomb" was thrown next to a Palestinian National Security point in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
L'Orient Today has spoken to a Palestinian security source who corroborates Fatah's claims but has not yet been able to reach other groups in the camp.
This latest escalation comes after violent clashes in July between Fatah and Islamist factions inside Ain al-Hilweh left 13 people dead. Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp hosts around 80,000 of the country's 250,000 Palestinian refugees.
A meeting was reportedly held on Tuesday between Fatah, the Islamic Asbat al-Ansar and the Islamic Mujahid movement. Fatah claims its secretary in the Sidon region, Maher Shabaita, agreed to limit the point of tension in the camp to the Ta'amir neighborhood. But in its statement, Fatah alleges that the "groups refuse to limit tensions to the Ta'amir neighborhood only."
In August, a cease-fire was agreed. On Aug. 22, the Joint Palestinian Action Committee called for security to be guaranteed inside the Ain al-Hilweh camp and for all those "responsible" for the deadly late July clashes to be handed over to the authorities. However, until now, no one has been handed over to authorities.