A Lebanese Army military base at one of Ain al-Hilweh's entrances on Sept. 10, 2023. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — The death toll rose to 11 on Monday in ongoing clashes at the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Saida between fighters of the Fatah movement and Islamist groups, an official from the Palestinian Red Crescent and a Palestinian security source told L'Orient Today.
The additional deaths of three Fatah members were reported by a Palestinian security source to L'Orient Today Monday afternoon. A woman sustained a shoulder injury after a rocket landed outside the camps bounds, near the al-Mousali mosque. She was transported to al-Hamchari hospital.
On Sunday night, five Lebanese Army soldiers were injured after two shells from the camp hit their military bases, the Lebanese Army confirmed in a statement.
The clashes have been ongoing since Thursday, and come just over a month after similar fighting in the camp killed at least 13 people and drove hundreds of civilians from their homes.
Hezbollah: The only beneficiary of this situation is the Zionist enemy
In a statement released Monday evening, Hezbollah expressed its "profound sorrow in the face of the ongoing clashes (...) causing destruction and a new displacement of Palestinians."
"We wish to emphasize that we oppose these clashes and utterly reject them," the statement continued.
"We believe that the only beneficiary of this situation is the Zionist enemy (...) these unnecessary clashes in the Ain al-Hilweh camp are destroying lives and property and harming Palestinian national unity."
Hezbollah called for an "immediate ceasefire and adherence to the agreed-upon [accords] in coordination with Lebanese security forces and influential and effective actors."
Shells hit Lebanese Army bases
In its statement, the Army announced that five soldiers had been hospitalized, one of them in "serious condition," after three rockets fell on two separate military bases in Saida.
The Army warned the concerned parties in the camp of the consequences of endangering the military bases and their members and confirmed that it would take "appropriate measures."
The injured soldiers were transferred to two hospitals in the Saida area, medical sources confirmed to L'Orient Today.
Following the incident, the Palestinian National Security Forces, Hamas and the Alliance of Palestinian Forces condemned targeting the Lebanese Army.
While no Lebanese official has yet commented on the shells, several Palestinian parties have condemned it.
In a statement issued on Sunday night, the Islamist movement Hamas called it "a suspicious act aimed at undermining Lebanon's army and sovereignty."
The Coalition of Palestinian Forces in Lebanon also strongly criticized hitting the army bases as a "suspicious act."
The Palestinian National Security Forces in Saida echoed this view, calling the act "a dangerous and condemnable development." According to them, "the terrorist groups in Ain al-Hilweh are targeting not only the Fatah and their fighters, but also the Lebanese Army and citizens."
Death toll rises
On Monday afternoon, a Palestinian security source told L'Orient Today that "three Fatah members were killed and three others were wounded as they attempted to advance to positions of Islamists in the Hatin neighborhood" of the camp.
This raises the death toll to 11 since the beginning of clashes, including a civilian from the neighboring town of Ghazieh who was hit by a stray bullet.
The fighting left more than 100 people injured, according to medical sources and the head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Riad Abou al-Inen.
Monday's developments
Fighting was still taking place in the camp on Monday, with the use of heavy firearms, RPGs and shells that were heard throughout Saida.
Earlier, on Sunday night, the clashes had resumed after a brief relative calm, following a call for a ceasefire by two Islamist factions. During Sunday evening's violent clashes, rockets and shells fell on neighborhoods of Saida outside the camp's outskirts, wounding several people.
In response, South Lebanon governor Mansour Daou announced on Sunday that the public administrations operating in the Saida Serail would be closed on Monday.
The South Lebanon Water Establishment took a similar decision, as did the city's Makassed School, which announced a postponement of the start of the new school year.
Mediation
According to a Palestinian source in the camp, "everyone is awaiting the results of today's meeting that will be held at the [Lebanese] General Security headquarters between acting general security chief Brig. Gen. Elias Bayssari and the Palestinian Join Action Authority [at 2 p.m.]."
The source added that "Lebanese political parties might join the meeting."
Various sources in the camp told L'Orient Today the fighting is linked to Islamist factions' refusal to turn in the alleged killers of Fatah-affiliated Ain al-Hilweh security chief Abu Ahmed al-Armoushi and four of his bodyguards — whose slaying in late July sparked days of deadly clashes in the camp.
According to him, Monday's planned meeting could be a "last chance" to pressure Islamists in the camp to comply with handing over Armoushi's alleged killers.
On Monday afternoon, one of the suspects in Armoushi's assassination, a member of Jund al-Sham, was severely injured during the fighting.
He was transferred to Al-Rai Hospital in southern Saida, where the Lebanese Army's information division is keeping him under surveillance.