Clash Erupts in Ain el-Hilweh as Gaza Celebratory Gunfire Kills Man

A young man was mistakenly killed by celebratory gunfire on Tuesday evening in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp near the southern city of Sidon, following the announcement of the end of 50-day Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip.

"Kamal al-Hallaq was killed by celebratory gunfire in Ain el-Hilweh,” the state-run National News Agency reported.

Al-Jadeed television reported that Hallaq was hit by a stray bullet.

Following the young man's death, a dispute erupted into a clash in the camp and resulted in the minor injury of a woman and a child, according to al-Jadeed.

"They were transferred to al-Nidaa al-Insani hospital in Ain el-Hilweh,” it added.

Meanwhile, Palestinian security forces interfered to contain the clash.

Ain el-Hilweh, the largest Palestinian camp in the country and home to about 50,000 refugees, lies near the southern city of Sidon.

A long-term ceasefire agreed by Israel and the Palestinians went into effect earlier in the day, ending 50 days of the deadliest violence in a decade.

The agreement, which came into effect at 1600 GMT, involves an immediate halt to the violence in Gaza, which began on July 8 and has claimed the lives of 2,143 Palestinians and 69 on the Israeli side.

Celebrations over the ceasefire and the “Palestinian resistance's victory” took place as well in Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut's southern suburbs.

And thousands of Palestinian refugees and Lebanese citizens in the southern city of Tyre also took to the streets chanting slogans in support of the Palestinian resistance and hailing its “victory.”

In the North, meanwhile, people marched in al-Beddawi camp following the evening prayers to celebrate the "resistance's achievement" in the Gaza Strip.

S.D.B.

Y.R.

Picture source: Al-Jadeed television (It identified the slain man as Kamal Karim)