| The Daily Star |
 |
SIDON, Lebanon: Residents of the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh are devastated by the extensive damage to their property after hours of armed clashes between local groups in the camp which left six wounded over the weekend, two of whom are said to be in a critical condition.
Saturday’s altercation, which was the most violent in a year, pitted gunmen from Fatah against Islamists from Jund al-Sham, which is allied to the Al-Qaeda-inspired group Fatah al-Islam.
Thirteen year-old Salah George and youth Ahmad Mubarak are on life support systems.
Reflecting anger over the sporadic use of arms in the camp, many Palestinian refugees barricaded several streets in the camp Sunday, demanding compensation for their damaged properties.
The Daily Star toured neighborhoods in the camp where the clashes broke out. Damage could be seen on dozens of houses, shops, cars and even mosques.
Echoing slogans chanted by protesters in the Arab world against autocrats, refugees shouted slogans such as “people want to topple arms in the camp.”
As his family inspected destruction at their home in the Hittein neighborhood, 6-year-old Haroun Saleh, competed with his friends to collect bullet cartridges from Saturday’s clashes.
“I hid away yesterday behind the washing machine because the sound of bullets was very loud … but I wasn’t afraid because my grandma was reading verses of the Quran,” he told The Daily Star.
Damoun Zeaiter, whose shop was burned to the ground, estimated his losses at $30,000, urging all sides to pay him compensations.
The armed clashes started Saturday around 5 p.m., when relatives of a Palestinian accused of involvement in an assassination attempt which targeted a senior Fatah commander tried to block a street in the neighborhood of Hittein by burning tires.
Col. Mahmoud Abdel Hamid Issa, better known by his nom de guerre “Leeno,” was the target of the assassination attempt by members of Fatah al-Islam Friday.
Fatah members shot and arrested two wanted members of the group as they tried to plant a bomb outside an Armed Struggle office on the camp’s lower road which Leeno is known to use on his way to Friday prayers.
One, identified as Mahmoud Abdel Qader Ghoutani, was wounded. The other was Omar Abu Kharoub.
Ain al-Hilweh camp, like all refugee camps in Lebanon, is under the control of local Palestinian factions rather than the Lebanese state.
The protesters Saturday were angry that Ghoutani was handed to the Lebanese authorities rather than to the Palestinian Follow up Committee as standard, when members of Fatah tried to stop them from blocking the road.
Shortly after, two armed men opened fire on the Fatah fighters who responded, sparking an armed clash which lasted for hours. Gunmen used machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
The altercations prompted many refugees to flee the camp toward surrounding areas or to Sidon. Explosions reverberated throughout the city, where streets were emptied of people and cars.
Meanwhile, the committee intensified contacts with officials from Fatah and Islamist groups in a bid to contain the situation.
For her part, Sidon MP Bahia Hariri contacted Brig. Ali Shahrour, the head of the Lebanese Army Intelligence in the south, and Leeno, along with committee members, urging them to restore calm in the camp and preserve the lives of refugees.
Clashes subsided at around 6:45 p.m. and after hundreds of residents of the Hittein neighborhood braved the streets and forced gunmen to withdraw.
However, the shootout moved further to the eastern neighborhoods of the camp, and the last shots were heard at around midnight.
The committee held a meeting at night with Leeno, Abu Tarek al-Saadi, the head of Usbat al-Ansar Islamist Movement in the camp and Sheikh Jamal Khattab, the leader of another Islamist group.
Attendees agreed on consolidating the cease-fire, withdrawing gunmen from streets and handing over those who were responsible for sparking the clashes to Lebanese authorities.
Ghoutani and Abu Kharroub later confessed to the Lebanese authorities that they were both involved in planting the bomb which was intended to target Leeno.
Ghoutani was previously imprisoned for two years by Lebanese authorities on charges of belonging to Fatah al-Islam.
Saturday’s altercation, which was the most violent in a year, pitted gunmen from Fatah against Islamists from Jund al-Sham, which is allied to the Al-Qaeda-inspired group Fatah al-Islam.
Thirteen year-old Salah George and youth Ahmad Mubarak are on life support systems.
Reflecting anger over the sporadic use of arms in the camp, many Palestinian refugees barricaded several streets in the camp Sunday, demanding compensation for their damaged properties.
The Daily Star toured neighborhoods in the camp where the clashes broke out. Damage could be seen on dozens of houses, shops, cars and even mosques.
Echoing slogans chanted by protesters in the Arab world against autocrats, refugees shouted slogans such as “people want to topple arms in the camp.”
As his family inspected destruction at their home in the Hittein neighborhood, 6-year-old Haroun Saleh, competed with his friends to collect bullet cartridges from Saturday’s clashes.
“I hid away yesterday behind the washing machine because the sound of bullets was very loud … but I wasn’t afraid because my grandma was reading verses of the Quran,” he told The Daily Star.
Damoun Zeaiter, whose shop was burned to the ground, estimated his losses at $30,000, urging all sides to pay him compensations.
The armed clashes started Saturday around 5 p.m., when relatives of a Palestinian accused of involvement in an assassination attempt which targeted a senior Fatah commander tried to block a street in the neighborhood of Hittein by burning tires.
Col. Mahmoud Abdel Hamid Issa, better known by his nom de guerre “Leeno,” was the target of the assassination attempt by members of Fatah al-Islam Friday.
Fatah members shot and arrested two wanted members of the group as they tried to plant a bomb outside an Armed Struggle office on the camp’s lower road which Leeno is known to use on his way to Friday prayers.
One, identified as Mahmoud Abdel Qader Ghoutani, was wounded. The other was Omar Abu Kharoub.
Ain al-Hilweh camp, like all refugee camps in Lebanon, is under the control of local Palestinian factions rather than the Lebanese state.
The protesters Saturday were angry that Ghoutani was handed to the Lebanese authorities rather than to the Palestinian Follow up Committee as standard, when members of Fatah tried to stop them from blocking the road.
Shortly after, two armed men opened fire on the Fatah fighters who responded, sparking an armed clash which lasted for hours. Gunmen used machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
The altercations prompted many refugees to flee the camp toward surrounding areas or to Sidon. Explosions reverberated throughout the city, where streets were emptied of people and cars.
Meanwhile, the committee intensified contacts with officials from Fatah and Islamist groups in a bid to contain the situation.
For her part, Sidon MP Bahia Hariri contacted Brig. Ali Shahrour, the head of the Lebanese Army Intelligence in the south, and Leeno, along with committee members, urging them to restore calm in the camp and preserve the lives of refugees.
Clashes subsided at around 6:45 p.m. and after hundreds of residents of the Hittein neighborhood braved the streets and forced gunmen to withdraw.
However, the shootout moved further to the eastern neighborhoods of the camp, and the last shots were heard at around midnight.
The committee held a meeting at night with Leeno, Abu Tarek al-Saadi, the head of Usbat al-Ansar Islamist Movement in the camp and Sheikh Jamal Khattab, the leader of another Islamist group.
Attendees agreed on consolidating the cease-fire, withdrawing gunmen from streets and handing over those who were responsible for sparking the clashes to Lebanese authorities.
Ghoutani and Abu Kharroub later confessed to the Lebanese authorities that they were both involved in planting the bomb which was intended to target Leeno.
Ghoutani was previously imprisoned for two years by Lebanese authorities on charges of belonging to Fatah al-Islam.
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