A deserted street in the Baraksat neighborhood, in Ain al-Hilweh. (Archive photo by Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient-Le Jour)
A tense atmosphere prevailed Tuesday in the Palestinian refugee camp Ain al-Hilweh, near Saida in southern Lebanon, following a dispute that escalated into gunfire, during which a member of Fateh was severely injured in the head.
The injured person, from the Moghrabi family, was hospitalized in Saida, according to Palestinian sources within the camp contacted by our correspondent. The dispute between the victim and the shooter, who was not immediately identified by the sources, is longstanding.
Following this incident, gunfire continues to be heard in the camp, which is the largest in Lebanon, and contacts are underway between officials to try to calm the situation.
Ain al-Hilweh houses about 80,000 Palestinian refugees and the camp has regularly been the scene of clashes due to personal disputes and tensions between various Palestinian factions. In August 2023, a wave of violent clashes between the Fateh movement, close to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Islamist groups such as Jund al-Sham and al-Chabab al-Moslem, resulted in at least 30 killed.