Report: Security Tightened at Palestinian Camps to Avert Violations

Security measures have been tightened at various Palestinian refugee camps, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Saturday.

Palestinian factions took a series of steps and procedures at the camps in order to prevent any internal violations, especially in the southern camp of Ain el-Hilweh.

“The factions have received Lebanese messages urging the need to bolster the role of the joint security forces in order to confront any terrorist groups that seek to violate the security and stability that the camps have been enjoying for months,” added al-Anba.

More than 450,000 Palestinians are registered in Lebanon with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA.

Most live in squalid conditions in 12 official refugee camps and face a variety of legal restrictions, including on their employment.

By long-standing convention, the army does not enter Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, leaving the factions themselves to handle security.

That has created lawless areas in many camps, and Ain el-Hilweh has gained notoriety as a refuge for extremists and fugitives.

But the camp is also home to more than 54,000 registered Palestinian refugees who have been joined in recent years by thousands of Palestinians fleeing the fighting in Syria.

Clashes frequently erupt at the camp between rival factions.

In October, a high-ranking Palestinian official of the Islamic State extremist group was arrested and he confessed to plotting a wave of attacks in the country.

The militant confessed to being the religious official of the terrorist IS group in the Ain el-Hilweh camp.

He also confessed to forming an IS cell along with his brother and another Palestinian refugee.