Lebanon: two killed in clashes in Palestinian camp

Grenades and machine guns used in what local media says was fight involving drug dealers

A Palestinian fighter sits guard outside a mosque in Shatila refugee camp in Beirut. Mahmoud Rida / The National

Two people were killed on Sunday in a Palestinian camp in Lebanon, the National News Agency reported.

Fighting involved rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), hand grenades and machineguns.

“Clashes witnessed in Rashidieh camp in the past hours have expanded. Machineguns, some RPGs and hand grenades were used,” the state-run agency said.

Several people were injured. The agency reported that a young man died from his wounds before adding that a "second person" was killed.

"Fatah and Palestinian factions are working to contain the problem," it said.

Local television MTV reported that the clashes involved drug dealers in the Assafuri neighbourhood.

Fighting in Lebanon’s 12 official Palestinian camps is common. Security is managed by Palestinian factions.

The Lebanese Army last entered the camps in 1969.

Rashidieh is located on the Mediterranean coast, five kilometres south of the city of Tyre.

Three rockets were launched from the camp towards Israel during the latest round of violence in Gaza, according to the Israeli military.

Palestinians in Lebanon have tried to stay under the radar since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, which some blamed them for starting.

Their exact number is unclear. The Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee estimated their number at 174,000 in 2017, whereas the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) said there are more than 470,000.

They are the descendants of Palestinians who fled their homeland in successive waves since the foundation of Israel in 1948.

Lebanese laws discriminate against Palestinians, who are not allowed to become citizens, and are banned from most white-collar jobs and buying land.

Unrwa provides services inside camps such as schooling and healthcare, but they have been reduced in the past years because of funding cuts.