News Desk - The Cradle
Fighting between militants from Jund al-Sham and Fatah has left 11 dead and displaced thousands as clashes enter a fourth day
The clashes, which are continuing along the axis of the Al-Barakasat and Al-Tara neighborhoods, broke out Saturday between militants from the Jund al-Sham extremist group and Palestinian security forces affiliated with the West Bank's ruling Fatah party.
Eleven have been killed so far, and at least 50 have been injured. Some 60 percent of the camp’s residents were forced to flee their homes to escape the fighting.
The clashes began on Saturday evening when a Jund al-Sham commander, Abu Qatada, was targeted in an assassination attempt.
On Sunday, the local commander of the Palestinian National Security forces, Abu Ashraf al-Armoushi, was assassinated in an ambush alongside four of his security officers.
An immediate cease-fire was agreed to on Sunday between all parties in the camp after a meeting of the Joint Palestinian Action Committee at the headquarters of Amal, the Lebanese Shia movement. However, the clashes continued despite the agreement.
Additional meetings were held on Monday to resolve the crisis. According to Lebanese MP Osama Saad, “It was agreed to investigate the assassination of the leader Armoushi, and to hand over everyone involved in the operation.”
He explained that "the file of the camp is very sensitive in light of the external interference, and it may lead to the detonation of the situation," pointing to "dangerous paths if the clashes continue."
He continued, "We hope that calm will return to the camp, and our efforts are continuing to stop the clashes, while we have heard from some parties that they want a security solution.”
The Islamic forces in the camp, including Jund al-Sham, called for "the formation of an investigation committee that would reveal those involved in everything that happened and hand them over to the relevant official authorities" while confirming their continued efforts to calm the situation.
Osama Hamdan, a leader in the Hamas movement, stated that what is happening in the Ain al-Hilweh camp is "dangerous and condemnable, as problems should not be solved through weapons."
Hamdan stressed to Al-Mayadeen that those who carried out the assassination of Armoushi must be handed over to the Lebanese security services, adding that "what is happening now in the camp only serves the Israeli enemy."
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) official Ihsan Ataya told Al-Mayadeen that additional meetings are planned for Monday.
Attaya said, "The Israeli enemy tried to ignite discord in the camp after it felt that the threat had become strong in the West Bank."
He added that the Israeli and US intelligence agencies "seek discord between the Palestinians, and between the Palestinians and the Lebanese," describing what is happening as "a dangerous event, with repercussions on the security scene."
Ain al-Hilweh is Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, housing more than 54,000 registered refugees. The camp was established for Palestinians forcibly expelled from their homes by pre-state Zionist militias during the 1948 Nakba, which paved the way for the creation of the state of Israel.
In recent years, it has also become home to thousands of Palestinians who fled the war in neighboring Syria.
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