Haniya urges Nasrallah, Berri and Mikati to halt Ain al-Helweh clashes

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya has contacted Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker PM Najib Mikati, urging them to exert efforts to halt the deadly clashes that have been raging for six days at the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon.

In a message to Nasrallah, Haniya stressed his movement’s “keenness on security and stability at the camp and its neighborhood,” noting that “Palestinian arms should only be pointed at the Zionist enemy.”

Haniya also emphasized that “the decisions taken by Palestinian authorities should be respected, especially by the Joint Palestinian Action Committee, and in full coordination with the relevant Lebanese official authorities, in terms of not resorting to arms, ceasing fire permanently, withdrawing gunmen from the streets and giving the inquiry panel a chance to perform its role in probing the crimes that happened.”

And in a phone call with Mikati, Haniya urged him to “exert more efforts to consolidate the new ceasefire that was reached last night.”

The clashes between Palestinian factions in Ain al-Helweh have pitted members of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party against Islamist groups accused of gunning down Palestinian military general Abu Ashraf al Armoushi on Sunday.

Dr. Riad Abu al-Einein, head of Al Hamshari Hospital, told The Associated Press the hospital received several wounded in the renewed clashes Wednesday night, but there were no immediate reports of deaths. In the previous days’ clashes, he said, 12 people were killed and the hospital had received 56 people wounded in the fighting.

A Palestinian official in the camp, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said two people were killed and 15 wounded in a rocket attack by the Islamist group Jund al-Sham on a Fatah position Wednesday night. Jund al-Sham and another Islamist group, Shabab al-Muslim, are the two groups that have been facing off against Fatah fighters, he said, adding that other Islamist factions, including Hamas, were not involved.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has reported that more than 2,000 people were forced to flee in search of safety since the beginning of the clashes.

The state-run National News Agency reported that Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon Ashraf Dabbour met with the commander of the Lebanese army, Gen. Joseph Aoun, on Wednesday to discuss developments in the camps and attempts to secure a new cease-fire.

The violence began Saturday when an unknown gunman tried to kill Palestinian militant Mahmoud Khalil but instead fatally shot his companion. Full-blown clashes erupted Sunday when Islamic militants shot and killed Armoushi and three escorts as they were walking through a parking lot, according to a Palestinian official.