Fatah Advances against Islamists in Ain el-Hilweh Clashes

A bomb exploded early on Monday at the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh, breaching a ceasefire agreement reached a day earlier, as clashes resumed between the secular Fatah Movement and members of two small Islamist groups.

The intersection at the vegetable market-al-Tiri in al-Fawqani street witnessed sniper shooting and bomb explosions, added the agency.

In the evening, TV networks said a new ceasefire agreement was reached after a meeting at Usbat al-Ansar official Sheikh Abu Tarek al-Saadi.

NNA has reported in the afternoon that Fatah fighters were advancing against the Islamist militants in the al-Tiri neighborhood, the stronghold of the Islamist groups.

Two Islamist militants were killed and another was wounded in the clashes, the agency added, reporting an injury toll of eight on Monday.

A ceasefire had been reached Sunday after a night of violent clashes that left two people dead and around seven wounded, media reports said.

Contacts involving Palestinian and Lebanese national and Islamist forces had led to that ceasefire.

The fighting pitted the Fatah Movement and the Joint Palestinian Security Force against the two groups of the Islamist militants Bilal Badr and Bilal al-Orqoub.

The clashes first broke out Thursday when gunmen from Badr's small group opened fire on a position of Palestinian security forces inside Ain al-Hilweh, a Palestinian source said.

Two people were killed in that fighting.

The clashes have forced dozens of families to flee the camp and seek shelter in Sidon mosques.