Clashes in south Lebanon’s restive Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp claimed the lives of at least six people on Sunday, said Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah movement and security sources at the camp.
The fighting that erupted overnight between Fatah and Islamists in the camp, killed a Fatah commander and wounded four of his aides that later died due to their injuries.
An “Islamist from the al-Shabab al-Muslim group” was also killed and six others including the group’s leader were injured, said a Palestinian source inside the camp on the condition of anonymity as per news agency AFP reports.
Later, Fatah released a statement confirming the death of commander Ashraf al-Armouchi and four of his “comrades” during a “heinous operation”.
The statement further condemned an “abominable and cowardly crime” that was aimed at damaging the “security and stability” of the Palestinian camps in Lebanon.
A Lebanese soldier was also injured, hit by shrapnel from “a mortar shell that fell in one of the military posts”, the army said on Twitter, which is being rebranded as X. As per reports, his condition was stable.
Lebanese PM calls timing of clashes ‘suspicious’
In a statement, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the timing of the clashes “suspicious in the current regional and international context”.
Mikati denounced “repeated attempts to use Lebanon” as a battleground for the settling of outside scores “at the expense of Lebanon and the Lebanese”.
He warned his country was again paying a price as “an arena to settle foreign scores.”
“We urge the Palestinian leadership to cooperate with the army to control the security situation and deliver to the Lebanese authorities those who compromise it,” his statement added.
Dorothee Klaus, director of UNRWA in Lebanon, said in a message on the X messaging platform that the agency called “on all militant parties to ensure civilians’ safety and respect inviolability of U.N. premises”, adding that the clashes damaged two schools run by the U.N. agency.
A ceasefire was agreed upon from 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) during a meeting of Palestinian factions including Fatah, also attended by members of the Lebanese Amal and Hezbollah movements, a joint statement thereafter said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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