Mikati fiercely criticizes Palestinian groups over Ain el-Helweh unrest

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday lashed out at the Palestinian factions over the fighting that has been raging since Saturday at the Ain el-Helweh refugee camp.

A statement issued by his office said Mikati followed up on the situation through phone calls he made with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Palestine Liberation Organization official Azzam al-Ahmad and Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon Ashraf Dabbour. Mikati also received a phone call from Hamas leader Ismail Haniya.

“The premier renewed his call for the Palestinian leaders to halt the fighting, which represents a flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty,” the statement said.

“It is impermissible and unacceptable for the Palestinian organizations to consider that Lebanon’s land is violable or to resort to this bloody fighting and terrorize the Lebanese, especially the sons of the South, who have been embracing the Palestinians for many years,” the statement quoted Mikati as saying.

He also emphasized that “the army and the rest of the Lebanese security agencies will carry out the needed tole to control security and halt the fighting.”

Mikati’s remarks came as cautious calm returned to the camp and surrounding area Thursday after a night of renewed clashes.

Ain el-Helweh, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp and home to about 50,000 people, has been rocked since Sunday by fierce battles between Abbas’ Fatah party and Islamist groups Jund al-Sham and al-Shabab al-Muslim.

Fatah has accused the Islamists of gunning down a Fatah military general, Abu Ashraf al Armoushi, in the camp on Sunday.

The fighting has so far killed more than a dozen people, wounded dozens more, and displaced thousands.

Dr. Riad Abu al-Einein, head of Al Hamshari Hospital near the camp, told The Associated Press that the hospital had received the body of a person killed in Wednesday night’s clashes, bringing the total number killed in the battles to 13, with dozens more wounded.

If the situation continues, he said, “it will affect not only the families in the camp but all of the people in Sidon, especially as there were several rocket-propelled grenades and gunshots hit residential areas in the city,” he said.

Maher Shabaita, head of Fatah in the Sidon region, confirmed that one of the group’s members was killed in Wednesday night’s clashes.

He said Fatah fighters had defended themselves after the Islamist groups attacked one of Fatah’s centers in the camp, breaking a cease-fire agreement reached Monday, in what he described as part of a “project to destroy the camp and transform the camp into a camp of militants, possibly a camp of terrorists.”

Palestinian factions in the camp have formed an investigative committee to determine who was responsible for Armoushi’s killing and hand them over to the Lebanese judiciary for trial, he said.

The Lebanese Army generally doesn't enter the Palestinian camps, which are controlled by a network of Palestinian factions, and hasn't taken an active role in the conflict in Ain el-Helweh.

In 2007, the Lebanese Army battled Islamist extremists in another Palestinian camp, Nahr al-Bared in north Lebanon, razing most of the camp in the process.

Elias Farhat, a retired Lebanese Army general who is now a researcher in military affairs, said it was unlikely that the army would intervene in the Ain el-Helweh clashes, because -- unlike in Nahr al-Bared -- the combatants haven't directly targeted the army.