SIDON, Lebanon: As calm returned to the Ain al-Hilweh and Nahr al-Bared refugee camps, Palestinian factions across Lebanon worked to contain the repercussions of two days of clashes between residents and the Lebanese Army.
In a letter to residents of refugee camps in Lebanon, Maj. Gen, Sobhi Abu Arab, the head of the Palestinian National Security Forces in Lebanon, said there is daily contact between Palestinian leaders in Lebanon and the Lebanese Army command.
“An agreement was reached to form a joint Lebanese-Palestinian investigation committee to reveal the truth to everybody,” said the letter. “We and the Army command will not permit any violation of security in Lebanon or the camps.”
Three Palestinians, one in Ain al-Hilweh and two in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, were killed in clashes with the army Sunday. A Palestinian was also killed in Nahr al-Bared two days earlier.
A statement by some Palestinian factions in Tyre said that the refugees are deprived of their basic rights, which had led to tension and the recent violence.
The Future parliamentary bloc called on Palestinians not to fall into the “traps set by the Syrian regime and its supporters to drag the camps and their residents into a confrontation with their brothers in Lebanon.”
The bloc highlighted the need to improve the humanitarian conditions for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
MPs attending Speaker Nabih Berri’s weekly meeting with lawmakers said he was worried by the week’s events, stressing the need to coordinate with Palestinian factions to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The March 14 General Secretariat issued a statement calling on President Michel Sleiman to deploy the Army at the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s General Command bases in the Chouf town of Naameh and the rest of Lebanon.
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