The Hamas resistance movement has asked the secretary general of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, to make the best effort he could to end the deadly clashes between factions in the Palestinian Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in southern Lebanon. 

The head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, requested that Nasrallah get involved as clashes continue to rage between the Palestinian groups inside the camp. Haniyeh insisted that Hamas wanted stability and peace in the Ain al’Hilweh camp. He emphasized that Palestinian weapons should only be used to resist the Israeli occupation. 

Violence erupted in the camp on Saturday after an unknown assailant attempted to kill Mahmoud Khalil, a member of one of the armed groups. A senior Fatah commander in charge of security inside the camp, Abu Ashraf al-Armouchi, was killed along with several of his guards. 

According to reports, the camp has been infiltrated by extremists and terrorists. They are creating chaos and targeting senior Fatah commanders. 

While speaking at a televised address on Tuesday, Nasrallah called for a ceasefire, saying, “This fighting must not continue because its repercussions are bad for the camp’s residents, for the dear Palestinian people, for the south, for all of Lebanon.”

The fighting briefly ended after the call for a ceasefire, but fierce confrontations started again the following day. 

The head of the Al Hamshari Hospital in Sidon, Dr. Riad Abu al-Einein, said that 12 people were killed during the clashes over the previous few days and that 56 wounded Palestinians came to the hospital for treatment. 

There are currently more than 63,000 people living in the Ain al-Hilweh camp. The majority of residents are Palestinians and their families who were forced to flee their homes following the Nakba in 1948. 

Haniyeh also spoke with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri about the confrontations. During a telephone conversation, Haniyeh insisted on the need for residents within the camp to respect the decisions made by the Palestinian authorities. 

He called for an immediate ceasefire and all of the Palestinian armed forces from the camp’s streets, attempting to allow the fact-finding committee an opportunity to investigate what had happened. 

Berri agreed that they needed peace throughout Ain al-Hilweh and that Palestinians have to live in security, resolving the rifts through compromise and dialogue. He promised to make attempts to calm the situation throughout the camp with help from the Palestinian side.