2015-Aug-16 Lebanon

In ‘Ayn al-Hilwa r.c., a brief outbreak of violence between Islamist groups and Fatah’s security forces aggravated tensions in the overcrowded locality. As the quarter opened, ‘Ayn al-Hilwa housed some 80,000 Palestinian refugees, including 10,000 who had fled the conflict in Syria, straining the camp’s infrastructure. The violence began on 8/22, when the Islamist group Jund al-Sham, which had ties to similar groups in Syria, attempted to assassinate a Fatah military leader at a funeral. There were periodic confrontations between the 2 groups throughout 2015, but when Fatah responded to the attempted assassination by accusing all Islamist factions in the camp of complicity, gunfights in the camp’s alleys and streets ensued (8/22–27). According to the Electronic Intifada on 9/3, 6 people were killed, more than 70 injured, and around 3,000 displaced, many of them fleeing to the nearby Mieh Mieh r.c. (Al-Monitor, 9/4).