The Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila, in southern Beirut, May 10, 2023. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — The Palestinian National Security Forces handed over five suspects to the Lebanese Army as part of the investigation into the murder of a young woman on Tuesday morning in the Shatila Palestinian refugee camp, in Beirut's southern suburbs. The suspects include one Lebanese and four Syrian nationals.
One of the suspects was believed to have been directly involved in the woman's murder, which occurred in a "drug den" within the camp's borders and another is allegedly involved in drug trafficking. Details regarding the remaining three were unavailable.
The Palestinians forces also handed over significant quantities of narcotics to the army's intelligence services. The Lebanese Army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The army has carried out several raids in Shatila in recent months in an attempt to curb illegal drug trafficking.
The woman's death came two days after the killing of Lebanese national Elio Abou Hanna by Palestinian gunmen in the same camp.
In a video posted Tuesday, a Fatah security official in Shatila, Ali Fayad, appeared in a room with the confiscated drugs laid out on the floor. He said the main suspect is a Lebanese national from Baalbeck and that the victim was a “drug user.”
A Fatah official told L’Orient Today that the woman was not a resident of the camp but regularly visited to buy and use drugs. She was not carrying any identification, the official said. Her body was found in an area known as a drug-selling hub frequented by users from across Beirut. According to the same source, a dispute broke out between the woman and the suspect before it turned violent.
The incident comes as Lebanese authorities, in parallel with Hezbollah’s disarmament process launched in early August, are also working to disarm Palestinian camps, where armed factions still maintain control of security.
