Naharnet

One killed in Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp

The brother of a wanted Islamist was killed inside Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp on Thursday, state media said.

A young man who was "the target of an assassination operation inside the Ain al-Helweh camp died after sustaining serious wounds," Lebanon's National News Agency said.

"He is the brother of a wanted Islamist who does not belong to any faction in the camp," the news agency added.

The camp on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon was rocked by deadly clashes earlier this year that pitted members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, which controls the camp, against hardline Islamist militants.

Hamas, the Islamist group which carried out a historic attack on Israel from Gaza on October 7, was not involved in the fighting.

Last month, Palestinian fighters agreed a ceasefire after more than a week of deadly violence.

In late July, five days of fighting in the camp killed 13 people and wounded dozens.

Ain al-Helweh is home to more than 54,000 registered refugees and thousands of Palestinians who joined them in recent years fleeing the civil war in neighboring Syria.

By longstanding convention, the Lebanese Army stays out of the camps and leaves the Palestinian factions to handle security.

Source: Agence France Presse


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