Al-Ahmad says foreign parties stoking Ain el-Helweh unrest as Fatah, Hamas back truce
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement and its Islamist rival Hamas have voiced support for the fledgling ceasefire in the Ain el-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon, a statement said Wednesday, as Palestine Liberation Organization official Azzam al-Ahmad accused "foreign parties" of stoking the camp's violence.
Clashes have rocked Ain el-Helweh since last Thursday, pitting members of Fatah, which controls most of the camp, against hardline Islamist militants. Hamas has stayed out of the fighting.
At least nine people have been killed and more than 85 wounded, including fighters and civilians, the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Wednesday.
Senior Palestinian officials, including al-Ahmad and Hamas' Moussa Abou Marzouk, met late Tuesday at the Palestinian embassy in Beirut, a joint statement said.
They expressed their "full commitment to consolidating the ceasefire" and agreed to "work to facilitate the return of those forced from their homes, and vacate schools as soon as possible."
They also agreed to "continue coordination with the Lebanese state," the statement added.
Fatah's Ahmad also discussed the situation with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and other officials on Wednesday.
“It has been decided to cease fire in Ain el-Helweh and hand over those wanted over the assassination of Major General Abou Ashraf al-Armoushi,” al-Ahmad said after the talks, noting that the Lebanese sides will “carry out contacts so that this decision be informed to all sides.”
“Foreign sides are offering incentives to the armed groups in Ain el-Helweh so that chaos spreads in Lebanon and we have full confidence in the wise Lebanese leadership as to confronting these attempts,” al-Ahmad added.
Ain el-Helweh is home to more than 54,000 registered refugees and thousands of Palestinians who joined them in recent years from neighboring Syria, fleeing the civil war there.
The camp, Lebanon's largest, was created for Palestinians who were driven out or fled during the war that accompanied the establishment of Israel in 1948.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has said the fighting has displaced hundreds of families.
On Monday evening, a ceasefire was announced by Lebanon's General Security agency after a meeting between its director and Palestinian security officials, but Tuesday saw brief clashes.
An AFP correspondent in Sidon said the situation was tense but largely calm on Wednesday morning, despite sporadic bursts of gunfire.
Five days of fighting in Ain el-Helweh that began in late July killed 13 people and wounded dozens, in the deadliest outbreak of violence in the camp in years.
That fighting erupted after the death of an Islamist militant, followed by an ambush that killed five Fatah members, including a military leader.
Source: Agence France Presse, Naharnet
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