Key Takeaways
- The ceasefire takes effect at 6 p.m. local time, halting gunfire in the camp.
- Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian camp saw roughly 20 deaths and over 150 injuries in recent weeks.
- Talks were led by Nabih Berri alongside Hamas and Fatah representatives.
Beirut: A ceasefire agreement was reached on Thursday in Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian camp located near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon.
The clashes had claimed about 20 lives during the past week, according to local media.
This came after a day of talks initiated by Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the local L’Orient Today news website reported.
Effective as of 6 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) on the day, the ceasefire immediately silenced the guns within the camp, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Thursday evening.
But the lull was broken with several shells fired at different time at night, said NNA, adding that the violation of the ceasefire agreement was limited.
The camp witnessed violent clashes on Wednesday afternoon and night, with heavy ammunition such as RPGs and automatic weapons used, leaving seven killed and 24 wounded.
Speaker Berri met on Thursday with Palestine’s Hamas representatives, a Fatah Central Committee member, and Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon Ashraf Dabour to discuss the clashes.
In the new wave of violence in the camp since Sept. 7, about 20 were killed and more than 150 were injured, according to local media.
Between July 29 and Aug. 3, clashes between members of the Palestinian Fatah movement and Islamic activists in the camp killed at least 13 people and injured dozens of others.
