Palestinian groups clash in Lebanon

Two people have been killed and four wounded after a verbal argument turned violent in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Helweh in south Lebanon, according to a Palestinian official.

He identified the victims as Walid Sallum, a member of a committee formed to resolve differences between rival Palestinian factions, and Abed Jawali, a member of Jund al-Sham.

They were hit by bullets fired on Saturday during an altercation between a Jund al-Sham leader, Shehade Jawahar, and members of a joint force of Palestinian factions which polices the camp, the official said.

Jawahar was seriously wounded, the official said. He could not say who fired the shots.

Jund al-Sham is a Sunni group comprising mainly Lebanese without a clear hierarchy.

After the clash, two rocket-propelled grenades were fired and sporadic gunfire broke out in the camp, in which three Palestinian civilians were wounded.

The factional force responsible for security is dominated by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), of which the Fatah movement of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, is a principal member.

Palestinian control

Ain el-Helweh, near the southern port city of Sidon, with more than 45,000 inhabitants, is the largest Palestinian camp in Lebanon.