Palestinian flags fly above pedestrians walking along an alleyway in the Shatila camp, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, on November 7, 2023. Illustrative photo Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images Palestinian flags hang above pedestrians walking along an alley at the Shatila camp for Palestinian refugees in the southern suburb of Beirut on November 7, 2023 amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)
Around 15 people were referred on Thursday to the Mount Lebanon Criminal Court by the Mount Lebanon's First Investigating Judge Nada al-Asmar for the murder of 24-year-old Elio Abou Hanna in October 2025.
Elio was killed in the Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila in the southern suburbs of Beirut on the night of Oct. 25 to 26, 2025, after taking a wrong turn in his car following a night out in the Badaro neighborhood.
A judicial source interviewed by L’Orient-Le Jour detailed the events, saying that the young man was targeted by heavy gunfire from two checkpoints set up some distance from each other. The first checkpoint was manned by individuals belonging to a drug trafficking network, at odds with a rival group.
As Elio’s vehicle (a Toyota RAV4) approached, they mistook him for a member of the rival group and opened fire. He tried to escape by accelerating. But there was a second checkpoint run by the Palestinian Security Commission, charged with maintaining order in the camp and fighting drug trafficking.
Armed elements at this checkpoint believed they had encountered a trafficker and fired at the vehicle to stop it, the aforementioned source said. The source added that, besides these individuals and those linked to the drug network, the chief of the Palestinian Security Commission is also under arrest.
The judge issued an indictment charging around fifteen men — including five who are still at large — with intentional homicide (Article 549 of the Penal Code), forming an armed gang to commit crimes (Article 336 of the Penal Code), and illegal possession of arms (Article 72 of the Weapons and Ammunition Law).
Shatila, one of Lebanon's most impoverished and densely-populated areas, is also home to numerous drug trafficking networks. This indictment comes at a time when state authorities are working together with groups in the camps to disarm the camps and crack down on drug and other forms of crime.
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