Lebanon: UN suspends services in Palestinian refugee camp

• Salma Hossein
• . August 18, 2023
• . Update: August 18, 2023 8:46 pm
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United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), a United Nations agency responsible for helping Palestinian refugees, has suspended UN services at the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, a country in West Asia, to protest the presence of militants at a United Nations-run school complex within the area.

UNRWA reportedly said in a statement, “UNRWA does not tolerate actions that breach the inviolability and neutrality of its installations.” The Agency further said, “UNRWA reiterates its call on armed actors to immediately vacate its facilities.”

Reportedly, the fight broke out between armed factions at the Ain el-Hilweh camp, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, after gunmen tried to assassinate Mahmoud Khalil, the leader of Fatah, formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement.

The deadly clashes between the two groups forced hundreds of people to flee.The fighting also killed at least 13 people and injured dozens of people.

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According to UNRWA, schools at the Ain el-Hilweh camp might not be available for 3,200 children during the start of the new school year because of the recent clashes.

According to reports, armed fighters are still occupying a United Nations-run school complex in the area. The UN officials said on Thursday that the clashes destroyed the school facilities.

Dorothee Klaus, the Director at United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), condemned the recent clashes. He reportedly said that “militants continue to occupy its installations, including a school compound” at the camp. He also said that the presence of armed fighters around the school was a “grave violation of the inviolability of UN premises.”

A local Palestinian official reportedly said that militants from both of the opposing sides occupied different schools within an area. The official also revealed that armed fighters looted computers and equipment.