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Hamas blames Fatah for killing members in Lebanon refugee camp

Fatah rejects allegations that its gunmen shot dead four Hamas members during a funeral at the refugee camp of Burj al-Shemali in southern Lebanon.

Reuters

The shootings took place at a Palestinian refugee camp of Burj al-Shemali during the funeral of a Hamas supporter.

Four Hamas members have been killed in an armed attack during a funeral at a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, the Palestinian resistance group said, blaming Fatah movement for the bloodshed.

Fatah condemned Sunday's incident, rejected Hamas' allegation and urged all sides to wait for the results of an investigation.

The shootings took place at a Palestinian refugee camp of Burj al-Shemali during the funeral of a Hamas supporter who was killed in an explosion on Friday night in the camp in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre.

The Hamas statement said a sporadic shooting was launched when the participants of the funeral ceremony approached the Fatah movement's building.

"Fatah gunmen deliberately opened fire against people taking part in the funeral march," one Hamas official told Reuters news agency, asking not to be named.

Fatah begins probe

Speaking to Reuters in Ramallah by phone from Beirut, the Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon, Ashraf Dabour, rejected Hamas allegations.

"This is a rejected and a condemned action... Investigation committees will reveal who stood behind it," Dabour said. "We have made contacts with Hamas leaders and demanded they wait for the investigation results."

Fatah controls the Palestinian Authority that exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Palestinian Authority officials in the West Bank, contacted for comment by Reuters, said they were checking the reports.

Earlier on Sunday, Lebanese state media said two people were killed and seven were injured in a dispute that erupted in the camp.

Hamas said the blast on Friday night was caused by an electrical fault in a warehouse containing oxygen and gas cylinders for coronavirus patients, as well as detergents and disinfectants.

A number of armed Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the Fatah movement, hold effective control over roughly a dozen Palestinian camps in the country, which Lebanese authorities by custom do not enter.