Tensions Return to Ain el-Hilweh as Grenade Hurled near Army Troops

A man hurled a hand grenade that failed to explode during a personal dispute Monday at a Lebanese army checkpoint at the entrance of the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, the National News Agency said.

The man, identified as Saleh Abu Arisha, was immediately arrested by army troops as a bomb technician defused the grenade, NNA added.

Separately, the agency said the camp was witnessing tensions sparked by the deployment of the Joint Palestinian Security Force in the al-Youssef Hall on the camp's al-Fawqani street.

“Islamist militants refused this deployment, asking the security force to withdraw from the hall,” NNA said.

Inter-Palestinian contacts later led to the withdrawal of the joint force from the hall “to prevent any security tensions,” the agency added.