Six killed in clashes in Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camp

Six people have been killed and another 13 wounded in renewed fighting in Lebanon’s Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported.

The latest clashes between Palestinian factions in the camp have brought the death toll up to 15 people since Thursday.

Fights flared up last week when the Fatah group and allies attacked suspects accused of killing a senior Fatah member.

Lebanon’s General Security agency announced a cease-fire on Monday. Senior Palestinian officials, including leaders of Fatah and Hamas, expressed their “full commitment to consolidating the ceasefire.”

Fights flared up again on Wednesday after a previously negotiated cease-fire collapsed.

The UN agency that deals with Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said that the fighting has displaced hundreds of families.

What is the Ein el-Hilweh camp?

Ein el-Hilweh is located near the coastal city of Sidon and hosts some 50,000 Palestinian refugees. Members of the Palestinian Fatah group, which is the dominant force in the occupied West Bank, and rival Islamist militant groups have been struggling for control in the camp for decades.

The camp, which is Lebanon’s largest, was created for Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, an event known by Palestinians as the “Nakba,” or catastrophe.

The Lebanese army is barred from entering Lebanon’s 12 Palestinian refugee camps per the Egyptian-brokered 1969 Cairo Agreement.

This leaves Palestinian groups to handle security among themselves, with rivalry among factions frequently leading to outbreaks of violence.

The recent clashes reportedly started with an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Islamist militant Mahmoud Khalil, nicknamed Abu Qatada, resulting in the death of one of his associates by a Fatah-affiliated gunman named Muhammad Zubaidat.

Later, Islamist militants ambushed and killed Abu Ahmed al-Armoushi, a Palestinian security official linked to Fatah, along with his three associates. Full-blown fighting then erupted across the camp.

Hezbollah and Iran’s support for the Islamist militant groups

According to observers the Islamist militant groups that have been struggling for control in the camp for decades are supported by Hezbollah.

Since renewing ties with Syria in 2022, Hamas has expanded its presence in Lebanon, receiving political and security support from Hezbollah. 

“The Hamas leadership is now living under the effective protection of Hezbollah,” Souhayb Jawhar, a journalist and researcher, was quoted as saying, and conversations in Lebanon are emerging on the development of the movement’s military capacity in and outside the Palestinian camps.

“The alliance of Iran and Hezbollah with Hamas is a means to weaken Fatah, preventing its negotiations with Israel. Hezbollah intends to be the sole negotiating power with Israel,” Imad Salamey, associate professor of Middle Eastern political affairs at the Lebanese American University was quoted as saying .

A Hezbollah arms truck that overturned last month in Kahale , Mount Lebanon resulting in a deadly clash with the residents was reportedly heading to Ain el Helweh to support its allies

DW/ News Agencies