Fatah and Hamas Reach Ceasefire Agreement in Ain al-Hilweh Refugee Camp

2023-09-13 09:37:13

Members of Fatah in Ain al-Hilweh camp

The recent escalation in the Syrian refugee camp near Sidon prompted the Fatah and Hamas movements to send envoys to Lebanon

Published on: September 13, 2023: 12:36 PM GST Last updated: September 13, 2023: 01:37 PM GST

The Fatah and Hamas movements agreed on the necessity of establishing a ceasefire in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon after a week of bloody confrontations.

On September 7, clashes broke out between the Fatah movement and extremist groups in the camp located on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon, which is considered the largest for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

The confrontations, which have continued intermittently since Thursday, resulted in the death of nine people and the wounding of more than 85 others, according to what Imad Hallaq, director of media at the Palestinian Red Crescent – Lebanon Region, told Agence France-Presse.

These battles came after weeks of confrontations, the most violent in the camp, which broke out at the end of July and lasted for five days between the two sides. It resulted in the killing of 13 people, including a Fatah leader, in an ambush, and calmed down after a series of contacts between Palestinian factions and Lebanese officials and parties.

During the past few days, several meetings were held between Palestinian factions and others with Lebanese officials. The recent escalation prompted the Fatah and Hamas movements to send two envoys to Lebanon: Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of the executive committees of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the central committees of the Fatah movement, and Musa Abu Marzouk, a member of the political bureau of Hamas, which did not participate in the battles on the ground.

Following a meeting held on Tuesday night at the Palestinian Embassy in Beirut, the two movements announced in a joint statement at dawn on Wednesday the agreement to “full commitment to consolidating the ceasefire” that was reached on Monday following a meeting that brought together representatives of the factions with leaders of the Lebanese security services, and the necessity of “handing over the wanted persons accused.” By assassinating the leader of Fatah.

An Agence France-Presse correspondent in Sidon reported that there was calm and that the clashes had stopped being heard since after midnight on Tuesday-Wednesday.

The Fatah and Hamas movements stressed “continuing coordination with the Lebanese state and all its institutions.”

The Lebanese security forces do not enter the Palestinian camps according to an implicit agreement between the PLO and the Lebanese authorities. The Palestinian factions undertake a kind of self-security inside the camps through a joint security force.

The Fatah and Hamas movements also agreed on the need to work to facilitate the return of hundreds of people who were forced by the recent escalation to flee the camp.

Ain al-Hilweh camp is known for harboring extremist groups and outlaws. It is home to more than 54,000 Palestinian refugees registered with the United Nations, joined during the past years by thousands of Palestinians fleeing the conflict in Syria.

It often witnesses assassinations and sometimes clashes, especially between Palestinian factions and extremist groups.

The Fatah movement is the most prominent faction in the camp, where Hamas is also present. Extremist groups take several neighborhoods as their stronghold, one of which is the area that mainly witnessed the recent clashes with the Fatah movement.