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More than a dozen have been killed in Lebanon amidst ongoing clashes between Palestinian factions which has seen dozens injured, thousands evacuated, hospital services interrupted and schools closed down.
A Fatah commander, Abu Ashraf al-Armoushi, was killed by Islamist militants on Sunday. This led to sustained violence between Palestinian groups.
The ambush was orchestrated by Islamist groups, Jund al Sham and Shabab al Muslim, in the impoverished Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh, southern Lebanon. Four of al-Armoushi’s aides also died as a result of the attack.
Thousands of civilians have fled the over 50,000-strong camp, whilst a local hospital has ceased operating and 40 apartments have been destroyed. Two schools, serving around 2,000 students, were also damaged. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that children were among the wounded.
Israel’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called for international scrutiny online, and raised the issue of international double standards. He asked rhetorically: “Where is the int’l [sic] outcry? Where is the Security Council’s emergency session? Where are the Secretary-General’s condemnations of Palestinian terror”?
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has denounced the violence of the Islamist groups, whilst the acting Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, has warned that Lebanon was again becoming “an arena to settle foreign scores”.
Although the situation was unrelated to Israel, Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Lebanon blamed the Jewish State for “igniting discord in the camp”.
Gunfire and attacks on the Fatah headquarters have led to exchanges of fire featuring rifles, hand grenades, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade-launchers (RPGs).
Palestinian officials have claimed that a gunman’s failed assassination attempt on Mahmoud Khalil, the leader of a hard-line Islamist group, preceded the Islamist attacks.
Instead of killing Khalil, the operation resulted in the death of his companion who was not named by Palestinian officials, but who was referred to as Abd al-Rahman Farhood by Hamas. The terror group also named the Fatah-affiliated gunman as Muhammad Zubaidat.
A temporary ceasefire was agreed by Fatah and representatives of Hezbollah, together with their Shi’ite Amal allies and the Popular Nasserist Organisation – however, once the Fatah leader was killed on Sunday, fighting resumed and persisted throughout the night.
The Lebanese army reported that a mortar fell inside a military headquarters with one soldier wounded. Troops have been deployed near the camp’s entrance in response.
UN agencies have withdrawn services from the area, with the director of UNRWA in Lebanon calling on “all militant parties to ensure civilians’ safety and [to] respect inviolability of UN premises”.
As of March, there are 489,292 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon across 12 refugee camps. UNRWA administers all Palestinian refugees, with refugee status inherited by each generation – a situation unique to Palestinian refugees. Lebanon does not provide citizenship to Palestinian refugees, and prohibits them from owning property and working in many skilled professions, significantly inhibiting their social and economic prospects.
