2023 Ain al-Hilweh clashes explained

Conflict:Ain al-Hilweh clashes
Date:30 July – 3 August 2023 [1]
8 – 15 September 2023[2]
Place:Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon
Combatant1: Fatah al-Islam


Al-Shabab Al-Muslim (Muslim Youth)[3]

Combatant2: Lebanese Armed Forces
Casualties4:30 deaths
At least 200 injured[4] [5]
Combatant3: Fatah
Status:Ceasefire reached
Casualties2:6 wounded[6]
Casualties1:2 killed
Casualties3:6 killed

On 30 July 2023, fighting broke out inside the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon after Islamist gunmen tried to assassinate Fatah militant Mahmoud Khalil, killing a companion of his instead.

Background

Ain al-Hilweh is a Palestinian refugee camp in the Sidon District. It was established in 1948 after the Palestinian exodus of the First Arab–Israeli War.[7]

In the 1980s, most Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon were dominated by Syrian-backed Palestinian groups. In the late 1980s, members of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, after being ousted in other refugee camps, moved on to Ain al-Hilweh. On 7 September 1990, after a three-day conflict with Abu Nidal's Fatah splinter faction, Fatah members were able to establish dominance in Ain al-Hilweh.[8] Sixty-eight people were killed in the fighting and around 300 wounded. It left Fatah in control of an area from the eastern suburbs of Sidon to Iqlim al-Kharrub.[9] Since then many illegal Palestinian militias and terrorist groups operate secretly in the refugee camp with violence occurring regularly. This is especially since, by convention, the Lebanese Armed Forces cannot enter Palestinian refugee camps in the country, leaving the factions themselves to handle security.[10]

The camp is also home to approximately 30,000 Palestinian refugees displaced from the Nahr Al Bared camp where it was destroyed in 2007 during 4 months of deadly fighting between the Lebanese army and extremist groups. Some of the militants expanded into Ain el-Helweh.[11]

Events

30 July–3 August

In the first day of clashes, Islamist militants ambushed a Fatah military general in a parking lot, killing him and three bodyguards. The general was identified as Abu Ashraf al Armoushi.[12] Source from the camp said an Islamist from "the al-Shabab al-Muslim group" was also killed and six others including the group's leader were wounded.

Fighting continued the next day, with six more people being killed, bringing the death toll to eleven. More than 40 people were injured. A ceasefire was agreed on at 6:00pm during a meeting of Palestinian factions including Fatah and was also attended by members of the Lebanese Amal and Hezbollah. UNRWA has suspended services within the camp due to the violence but had opened its schools to families fleeing the fighting. More than 2,000 people left the camp amid the fighting. Lebanese MP Ousama Saad hosted a meeting in the headquarters of the Popular Nasserist Organisation. It had the presence of the delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, factions of the Palestinian Coalition Forces represented by Ayman Shana'a, "Ansar Allah", and members of Lebanese Islamic parties.[13] [14]

According to the Lebanese Armed Forces a mortar shell hit a military barracks outside the camp and wounded one soldier, whose condition is stable.[15]

September 8–15

Clashes were resumed again on September 8, despite an uneasy truce between the militants on August 3, as the accused killer of the Fatah official was not handed over to Lebanese Judiciary.[16] The Palestinian authority in the camp announced on Tuesday that their security forces would launch raids in the camp in search of the accused killers. Fatah officials said that the Islamist group launched an attack on September 7 to obstruct Fatah's plans to remove militants from schools they had been occupying.[16] Five people were killed and more than 50 have been injured in the subsequent clashes, including three civil defense volunteers who came under shelling.[17] [18] By September 11, five more people have died in the clashes, bringing the death toll to ten. The casualties were identified as six Fatah fighters, two Islamist militants were and two civilians.[19]

Ceasefire

After numerous failures and breaches of ceasefires, a final truce was agreed upon on September 14. The agreement came after the speaker of the Lebanese parliament Nabih Berri met with Fatah and Hamas leaders the same day.[20] It was agreed that the killers of Al Armoushi would be handed over to the camp authorities.

On 29 September a Palestinian security was force deployed Friday in a school complex at Ain el-Hilweh replacing the gunmen who had occupied it since the beginning of the clashes.[21] This aims for the security of schools as they will begin late in early October. The security force includes 55 militiamen of various groups which includes the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Asbat al-Ansar.

Reactions

International

Internal

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Situation Report #5 on the situation in Ein El Hilweh, Lebanon . 2023-08-14 . UNRWA . en.
  2. Web site: 2023-09-15 . Calm returns to Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon . 2023-09-17 . Arab News . en.
  3. Web site: 2023-09-10 . Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon remains tense amid confusion over ceasefire efforts . 2023-09-11 . Arab News . en.
  4. Web site: 11 dead, over 100 injured as clashes continue in Ain al-Hilweh . 2023-09-11 . The Jerusalem Post JPost.com . 11 September 2023 . en-US.
  5. Web site: 2023-09-15 . Calm returns to Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon . 2023-09-17 . Arab News . en.
  6. Web site: 5 Lebanese soldiers injured amid Fatah-Islamist clashes in Ain al-Hilweh . 2023-09-11 . The Jerusalem Post JPost.com . 10 September 2023 . en-US.
  7. Web site: Deadly clashes between Palestinian groups in Lebanon camp for third day . 2023-08-08 . www.aljazeera.com . en.
  8. Web site: Atemschutzmasken für die Schutzausrüstung am Arbeitsplatz - kitkatta.net . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060903013937/http://www.meib.org/articles/0306_l1.htm . 3 September 2006.
  9. Middle East International No 384, 28 September 1990; Fourteen days in brief p.19
  10. Web site: FRANCE24.English . 30 July 2023 . Lebanon clashes kill six in Palestinian refugee camp . 1 August 2023 . France 24 . en.
  11. Web site: Homsi . Nada . 2023-08-02 . No guarantee of peace in Ain Al Hilweh unless 'assassins surrender' . 2023-09-10 . The National . en.
  12. Web site: Brigadier General Abu Ashraf Al-Armoushi has been killed, along with a number of his companions, in the Bsatine neighborhood of Ain Al-Helweh camp . 1 August 2023 . MTV Lebanon . en.
  13. Web site: الوكالة الوطنية للإعلام - أسامة سعد التقى فاعليات لبنانية وفلسطينية: تفاهمنا على تثبيت وقف إطلاق النار في عين الحلوة وتشكيل لجنة تحقيق وتسليم القتلة . 1 August 2023 . الوكالة الوطنية للإعلام . ar.
  14. Web site: أسامة سعد لـالجزيرة: تم الاتفاق على تشكيل لجنة تحقيق فلسطينية لتحديد من اغتال قائد الأمن الوطني في صيدا . 1 August 2023 . Lebanon24 . ar.
  15. Web site: What's behind the fighting in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon? . 1 August 2023 . www.aljazeera.com . en.
  16. Web site: 2023-09-08 . Clashes resume in Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp . 2023-09-09 . Al Arabiya English . en.
  17. Web site: Renewed clashes between factions in Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon . 2023-09-09 . www.aljazeera.com . en.
  18. Web site: 10 September 2023 . Death toll rises in Ain el-Helweh as Mikati rebukes Abbas . 2023-09-10 . Naharnet.
  19. Web site: Staff . The New Arab . 2023-09-11 . 10 killed at Ain al-Hilweh amid Lebanese-Palestinian meeting . 2023-09-11 . newarab.com . en.
  20. Web site: Agence France-Presse . 2023-09-16 . Palestinian fighters in Lebanon camp agree new truce . 2023-09-30 . The Manila Times . en.
  21. Web site: Mantash . Ahmad . Palestinian gunmen deploy in school compound after clashes in Lebanon refugee camp . 2023-09-30 . www.timesofisrael.com . en-US.
  22. Web site: 2023-08-07 . Why are UAE, Saudi, other Gulf countries issuing Lebanon travel warnings? - Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East . 2023-09-09 . www.al-monitor.com . en.
  23. Web site: 31 July 2023 . Thousands mourn a Palestinian general, among 9 killed in sectarian clashes at a Lebanon refugee camp . 1 August 2023 . AP News . en.
  24. Web site: Homsi . Nada . 2023-08-03 . Mikati threatens army intervention if Ain al Hilweh conflict not contained . 2023-09-10 . The National . en.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "2023 Ain al-Hilweh clashes".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.