20-04-2024 12:34 PM Jerusalem Timing

Lebanon’s Ain el-Hilweh Clashes Leave 11 Injured

Lebanon’s Ain el-Hilweh Clashes Leave 11 Injured

At least 11 people were injured on Tuesday in renewed gunfights at the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near the southern city of Sidon.

Lebanon: Ain el-Helwe refugees' campAt least 11 people were injured on Tuesday in renewed gunfights at the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near the southern city of Sidon, the National News Agency reported.

"Fighting has ended in Ain el-Hilweh and we're now investigating the circumstances of the incident," Naharnet news website quoted al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander Munir al-Maqdah as saying.

"The situation will not deteriorate and we will not allow any party to drag the camp into the abyss," Maqdah added.

The Fatah leader noted that the Palestinian factions all agree on the need to preserve security in the camp and the surrounding areas, while denying the presence of the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front in the camp.

NNA said that the fighting erupted between the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and the supporters of Bilal Badr at al-Fawqani neighborhood in the camp.

The gunmen used machineguns and mortar shells in the fighting which came a day after one person was killed and several others injured.

Ain el-Hilweh residents later held a march to ask for an end to the infighting.
Monday's gunfight erupted between Fatah al-Islam and Fatah after Bilal Badr, a former Fatah al-Islam member, was targeted in a shooting.

Ain el-Hilweh, the largest Palestinian camp in the country, is home to about 50,000 refugees.