Refugee camp clashes leave 20 Palestinians injured in Lebanon

By Wassim Seif El Din

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AA) – At least 20 Palestinians were injured in renewed clashes between the Palestinian Fatah movement and other armed groups in the Ain al-Helweh refugee camp in southern Lebanon late Thursday.

The Lebanese official news agency NNA said the injured people were taken to nearby hospitals.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu though the clashes stopped early Friday, the situation remains vulnerable to further escalation.

The Lebanese University campus in Sidon city, southern Lebanon, where the camp is located closed due to the security situation around the camp.

Machine guns and heavy weapons were used in the clashes on Thursday, forcing hundreds to flee the camp, according to NNA.

The Ain al-Helweh camp, the largest of 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, also witnessed heavy clashes on July 29.

The clashes between Islamic groups and Palestinian forces affiliated with the Fatah movement left 11 people dead and more than 40 others injured, according to UN figures.

Established in 1948, Ain al-Helweh is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon with 50,000 registered people, according to figures released by the UN, while unofficial statistics put the camp’s population at 70,000 people.

The total number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is estimated to be about 200,000, housed in 12 camps, most of which are under the control of the Palestinian factions.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar