Palestinians urge Lebanese to keep fighting out of refugee camps
Leaders from both Hamas and Fatah fear camp residents will take up arms in growing sectarian battles
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleElhanan Miller is the former Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
Palestinian leaders held urgent talks with leaders in Lebanon Monday in a bid to prevent sectarian clashes from seeping into the country’s Palestinian refugee camps.
Twelve Lebanese soldiers were killed on Sunday night and at least 50 injured in clashes between the army and supporters of hard-line Sunni cleric Ahmad Al-Assir in the city of Sidon, 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the capital Beirut. The army accused supporters of Assir — who has been involved in recruiting men to fight alongside the opposition in Syria — of opening fire unprovoked at an army checkpoint in the town of Abra, near Sidon. Reconciliation talks between the army and Assir broke down on Monday.
The fighting spilled into the Ein Al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon, as supporters of Asir took positions in buildings located in the camp. The Lebanese army fired mortar shells at them, killing one Palestinian resident, Qatari news channel Al-Jazeera reported. Leaders of Fatah and Hamas in the camp took “security precautions” to prevent the camp’s youth from joining the fighting, the station added.
On Monday, Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal telephoned Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri, leader of Shiite group Amal, and stressed the need to keep the Palestinian refugee camps outside the circle of sectarian violence raging between Hezbollah and supporters of Sunni Islamist Ahmad Assir.
In a statement issued by Hamas on Monday, the movement expressed “sorrow” over the clashes in the camp and called for “restraint.” It pleaded with the Palestinian residents of the camp not to take up arms, thus becoming involved in “internal conflicts” between Lebanese parties.
“We reject the involvement of the Palestinian element in the internal Lebanese crisis,” read the statement. “We stress that Palestinians are a source of security, stability and calm.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called Fatah’s representative in Lebanon Fathi Abul-Aradat and Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon Ashraf Dabour on Sunday and asked them to prevent Palestinians from engaging the Lebanese army, Palestinian media reported.
“Weapons must not be used in the camps under any circumstance,” Abbas was quoted by Ma’an news agency as saying. “Use of weapons is utterly forbidden.”
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The Times of Israel Community.