Report: Foreign forces behind Ain el-Helweh clashes
The latest tensions in the region had a “direct link” to the deadly armed clashes that erupted on July 28 in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Helweh in south Lebanon, a senior Western diplomat said.
“Foreign forces incited hardline armed factions in the camp in an attempt to seize control of it, which resulted in the assassination of Palestinian National Security official Abou Ashraf al-Armoushi and a number of his companions,” al-Joumhouria newspaper quoted the diplomat as saying, in remarks published Monday.
“A prominent Gulf state meanwhile intervened by financing the Fatah Movement to prevent the spread of the hardliners,” the diplomat said.
“The Lebanese Army is carrying out very calculated security missions, including the encirclement of the camp’s entrances, with the aim of preventing the defeat of the Fatah Movement in it, disallowing any gunmen from leaving it and protecting the very vital South highway,” the diplomat added.
Hezbollah is meanwhile “in favor of maintaining balance between the warring factions and its decision is not to intervene as long as the army is in control of things and the South highway is secure,” the diplomat said.
“In response to the use of the hardline militants card and the financing of the other group (Fatah) by a certain country, and in the face of the return of (drug) smuggling and the creation of tensions in the region, Saudi Arabia expressed its anger and dismay through asking the 400 Saudi citizens in Lebanon to leave it, after they had come to Lebanon through Turkey in violation of their country’s travel ban for Lebanon,” the diplomat added.
07 August 2023, 15:31
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The LAF should storm every house in Ain El Helweh and confiscate the weapons and return them once the Palestinians reach Fatima’s gate to go liberate their homeland. All weapons must be under state control, this obviously also applies to the pro Iran militia.
07 August 2023, 17:10
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Those weapons are there because foreign players have put them there and want them there in the hands of "their side". Hizb is also involved by arming allies in the camp to make sure they can divide and conquer if needed. Dirty politics as usual while innocent people pay the price.
07 August 2023, 18:05
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I have personally experienced life within Ain el Helweh on various visits, and I must say, some of its residents are truly admirable individuals, deserving of far better opportunities and improved circumstances. The era of Arafat has long passed, rendering the once significant agreement to grant all 12 camps a special status as obsolete and, quite frankly, lackadaisical from its inception.
