Clashes continue at Palestinian camp in Lebanon as death toll rises to 11

For a third straight day, clashes continued between rival factions in a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, leaving11 people dead, since the fighting began last week.

Ein al-Hilweh, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon which houses over 63,000 people has been the ground zero for clashes, ever since the leader of the Fatah faction and four of his bodyguards were killed by another Palestinian group.

Despite a Lebanese lawmaker announcing a ceasefire on Monday, sporadic gunfire continued, adding to the tension. On the same day, thousands of mourners gathered in the region for the funeral ofAbu Ashraf al Armoushi, who was gunned down.

Fatah released a statement in the aftermath and said the "abominable and cowardly crime" was aimed at damaging the "security and stability" of the Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

According to The New York Post which quoted a Fatahcommander as saying, his sidewas trying to surround the Islamist group, identified as Jund al-Sham. Fatah has previously clashed withJund al-Sham as well but the stakes are higher this time, according to experts.

The fighting erupted in the backdrop of rivalPalestinian groups, including Fatah and Hamas, meeting in Egypt for reconciliation talks to move towards Palestinian national unity.

A UNreport statesthat most of the people in the Ein al-Hilweh camp are Palestinians whose descendants were forced to flee their homes in 1948 after the state of Israel was established. Since then, clashes between rival groups over administration of the camp has not been an uncommon phenomenon.

In 2017, after a joint security force, constituted with the sole purpose to prevent clashes between rival factions was dissolved, massive fighting erupted, which left nearly 20 people dead and dozens injured.

Lebanese PM calls timing of clashes 'suspicious'

In a statement, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the timing of the clashes "suspicious in the current regional and international context".

Mikati denounced "repeated attempts to use Lebanon" as a battleground for the settling of outside scores "at the expense of Lebanon and the Lebanese".

Dorothee Klaus, director of UNRWA in Lebanon, said in a message on the X messaging platform that the agency called "on all militant parties to ensure civilians' safety and respect inviolability of UN premises", adding that the clashes damaged two schools run by the UN agency.

(With inputs from agencies)

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