Armed clashes broke out on Sunday in a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon during a funeral of a slain Hamas militant, killing at least four people.
According to local media, several others were also wounded in the gunfight at the Burj Shamali refugee camp near the port city of Tyre, reportedly instigated by members of rival Palestinian faction Fatah.
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Armed fighters and people take part in a funeral procession for Hamza Ibrahim Shahin (pictured in posters), a member of the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group, in the Burj al-Shamali camp for Palestinian refugees near the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on December 12, 2021
(Photo: AFP)
"Fatah gunmen deliberately opened fire against people taking part in the funeral march," one Hamas official said, asking not to be named.
Speaking to Reuters in Ramallah by phone from Beruit, 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."
Clashes during Hamas militant's funeral in Lebanon on Sunday
The funeral was held for Hamza Shaheen, who was killed after an alleged Hamas weapons depot hidden underneath a mosque in the camp blew up last Friday. Among the attendees were several high-ranking Hamas officials.
Hamas said that the explosion — which resulted in several dead and wounded — was caused by oxygen tanks for coronavirus patients which caught fire.
"Hamas condemns the misleading media campaign and the spread of fake news that accompanied the incident," the terror group said in a statement. It added that reports about the cause of the blast and the "deaths of dozens" were baseless.
The aftermath of the explosion at the Burj Shamali refugee camp near the port city of Tyre in Lebanon on Friday
However, a Lebanese security official said that the explosion in the camp was clearly caused by ammunition, not oxygen tanks.
Lebanon is home to tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Many live in 12 refugee camps that are scattered across the small Mediterranean country.
This most recent disaster comes in the midst of an ongoing and contentious investigation into a massive port blast that decimated Beirut and flattened large swaths of the city, leaving hundreds dead and tens of thousands homeless.