Conflict Incident Report

Heavy shooting was heard inside Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp, resulting from an armed clash in the Jerusalem Orchard inside the Camp, using machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, NNA correspondent in Sidon reported. The armed clashes in Ain el-Helweh Refugee Camp this evening resulted in the death of Abdel Rahim Bassam al-Maqdah and the wounding of Mohammed Jamal Hamad and Ali Sleiman, while Lebanese-Palestinian contacts are underway to restore calm to the neighborhood, NNA correspondent reported.  A failed assassination attempt in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in south Lebanon led to the eruption of clashes Friday, a security source told The Daily Star. The target of the assassination attempt was joint Palestinian security force Brig. Gen. Bassam al-Saad. An exchange of machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades broke out in the neighborhood of Al-Bustan al-Kabir in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt. Just a few hours earlier, a bomb had detonated in the vegetable market in the camp. It is unclear whether the two incidents are linked. The security situation further deteriorated later in the evening as Palestinian Mohammad Jamal Hamad attempted to assassinate Mohammad al-Mobdah, a member of the Fatah movement, sources told The Daily Star. The exchange of fire led to the accidental death of Abed al-Rahim Bsam al-Moqdah, who was standing on his balcony as the clashes broke out. The violence soon spread to armed clashes between radical elements in the neighborhood of Safsaf and the Fatah movement. Houses, shops and cars were damaged by the two parties. Some generators caught fire as a result of the heavy clashes. The fighting reached a momentary halt at 5:45 p.m. and later continued intermittently as the Palestinian leadership attempted to prevent new violence. Relative calm has currently been restored in the camp. Hamas political representative in Lebanon, Ahmad Abdel Hadi, called for stability in a statement Friday. "[Hamas] is against any actions that harm the joint Palestinian security forces, as they are the result of a consensus between all Palestinian factions," he said. He condemned the acts of violence, which "hurt the residents of the camp."