Clash in Palestinian camp kills one and wounds another

Dec 8, 2008, 14:36 GMT

Beirut - One person was killed and another wounded in a clash Monday which erupted between family members inside a Palestinian camp in southern Lebanon, Palestinian sources said.

The clash escalated into a deadly gunbattle between supporters of the opposing Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah in the small Miyeh Miyeh Palestinian camp near the southern port city of Sidon, the sources said.

During the clash, heavy machineguns, such as automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, were used, Palestinian officials said.

One Fatah supporter, Walid Zeidan, was wounded and later died in the hospital, said the sources. Zeidan was the nephew of the local Miyeh Miyeh Fatah leader. A Hamas member was wounded and later handed over to Lebanese troops stationed outside the camp, they said.

Clashes between Hamas and Fatah members in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon have intensified since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip in 2007 from Fatah, which controls the West Bank.

There are about 367,000 Palestinian refugees living in 12 camps in Lebanon.

Security inside the camps are in the hands of the local Palestinian factions. Lebanese army maintain checkpoints at the entrance of each camp.