6 killed, 7 injured at Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

At least six people have been killed during clashes at a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon according to reports.

Clashes at the Ein el-Hilweh camp broke out between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement and rival Islamist groups.

Among the six dead was a Fatah commander, the movement confirmed.

Established in 1948, the restive Ein el-Hilweh camp is the largest in Lebanon with more than 63,000 registered refugees, the UN says.

The camp, situated near the southern city of Sidon, falls outside the jurisdiction of the Lebanese security forces.

It is still unclear of the actual number as some estimates say the population is higher.

It is left up to rival factions within the camp to maintain its security, but factional disputes are common.

The weekend’s violence erupted on Saturday when a member of the Islamist al-Shabab al-Muslim group was killed, AFP news agency reports quoting an unnamed source inside the camp as saying. Six others including the group’s leader were wounded, it added.

Tensions continued to mount through to Sunday, culminating with the death of the Fatah commander, Ashraf al-Armouchi, and four of his aides.

A ceasefire was agreed late on Sunday, but skirmishes continued through the night.

The local MP is expected to hold a meeting later on Monday to try to resolve the tensions.

As well as the six dead, Lebanese soldiers were also injured during the violence, the Lebanese army said.

The director of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon (UNRWA), Dorothee Kraus, said all the agency’s operations in the camp had been suspended.

She called on “all militant parties to ensure civilians’ safety and respect inviolability of UN premises”.

A ceasefire has since been agreed, according to a joint statement quoted by AFP.

More than 479,000 refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, the agency says.

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