Armed Clashes Renew in Ain el-Hilweh

Armed clashes renewed Saturday morning at the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon after heavy clashes erupted overnight leaving one person killed and several others wounded, the National News Agency reported.

NNA said that sniper operations were also heard in al-Braxat and al-Sifsaf neighborhoods and that two members of the Joint Palestinian Security Force were wounded.

Later during the day a group of activists who gathered in an area close to the clashes to press for a ceasefire came under fire. As a a result a Palestinian, Siraj Shreidi, was wounded and taken to hospital

Heavy clashes erupted on Friday at the camp with the sounds of heavy gunfire and RPG blasts echoing across the camp.

Hussein Othman from the Fatah Movement was killed in the fighting and seven people were injured including two members of the Joint Palestinian Security Forces.

Al-Mayadeen television had said that dozens of families fled the camp as a result of the clashes that erupted between “members of the Fatah Movement and Islamist militants.”

NNA said the fighting broke out in the wake of a brawl between young men from the al-Sifsaf and al-Braksat neighborhoods.

Palestinian-Lebanese contacts kicked off overnight to contain the situation.

Reports said that members of the Joint Palestinian Security Force have deployed at the camp's al-Sifsaf neighborhood in a bid to bring the situation under control.

Two people were killed at the camp on Monday also in clashes between Fatah and Islamist militants.

It was not immediately clear if there is a connection between the two rounds of violence.

Such incidents have become frequent in recent years in Ain el-Hilweh, the largest of Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps.

By long-standing convention, the Lebanese army does not enter the Palestinian camps in the country, leaving the Palestinian factions themselves to handle security.

That has created lawless areas in many camps, and Ain el-Hilweh has gained notoriety as a refuge for extremists and fugitives.