An armed Palestinian fighter in an UNRWA school, Sept. 29, 2023 in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, South Lebanon. (Courtesy of Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Between 50 and 60 members of the Palestinian Joint Force in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in South Lebanon deployed Friday afternoon to schools belonging to UNRWA, the UN agency in charge of Palestinian refugees.
The operation, which ended at around 3 p.m., followed the withdrawal of fighters from rival Fatah and Islamist factions, who were occupying the schools.
An earlier deployment of the Joint Force in other neighborhoods of the camp took place Monday, in accordance with an agreement aimed at restoring stability to the camp, where two waves of clashes recently left at least 30 people dead.
The latest fighting from Sept. 7-14 pitted the Fatah, close to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, against Islamist groups including Jund al-Cham and Shabab al-Mouslem.
The deployment began at 2 p.m. A first group of Joint Force fighters headed for the "Ta'amir al-Tawarek" neighborhood, while another went to the Baraksat neighborhood. Islamist and Fateh fighters were entrenched in five of the eight UNRWA schools in the camp.
Despite this withdrawal, the military positions of the rival factions remain unchanged, and the front lines have not moved, making movement between the points held by the armed groups difficult.
A damaged classroom in one of the schools inside the Ain al-Hilweh camp. (Courtesy of Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
A devastated region
Approximately 30 hooded and armed Islamist fighters occupied the schools. Considerable damage was visible inside the schools, testifying to the intensity of the clashes in the area, according to images taken by L'Orient-Le Jour.
The withdrawal of fighters entrenched in the schools was carried out gradually so that evacuation between rival factions could take place simultaneously.
Despite the withdrawal, the military positions of the rival factions remain unchanged and the front lines have not moved, making movement between the points held by the armed groups difficult.
Two gunshot wounds
On Friday morning, a few hours before the evacuation of the fighters from the UNRWA schools, an armed incident left two people wounded. A child and a man were shot following a personal dispute, according to several Palestinian sources. Both were hospitalized.
According to a statement issued by the official National News Agency, the head of Palestinian National Security in the Saida region, Abu Mohammad Fahd, acting on the instructions of General Sobhi Abu Arab, head of Palestinian National Security in Lebanon, handed over a suspect to the Lebanese Army's intelligence services.