Clashes erupted overnight Wednesday in Ain al-Hilweh – the largest of Lebanon’s 12 official Palestinian refugee camps – after a Fatah movement member was killed, Lebanese media reported.
The fighting renewed in the early hours of Thursday morning before calm returned to the camp.
Machine guns and RPGs were used in the clashes, which could be heard throughout the coastal city of Sidon where Ain al-Hilweh is located.
Armed clashes are common in the camp, where rival Palestinian groups are located.
Ain el-Hilweh, like other refugee camps, falls outside the jurisdiction of the Lebanese security services and is governed by joint Palestinian security forces.
An estimated 120,000 Palestinian refugees live in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp. Nearly 500,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon overall.
They are the descendants of Palestinians who were forcibly expelled from their homes by Israel during the 1948 Nakba.
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are subjected to widespread restrictions by the Lebanese state and are barred from working in many jobs.
(The New Arab, PC)
