SIDON, Lebanon: Two members of the Palestinian group Fatah were killed in clashes with Islamist groups in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon on Wednesday, medical sources said, bringing the number of dead to six in nearly a week of fighting.

The two sides later agreed a ceasefire deal, Palestinian officials said, as a security force spread out to the areas of fighting.

The clashes at Ain el-Hilweh began last Thursday between Islamist fighters and a joint force comprising the main Palestinian factions, including Fatah, which are responsible for the camp's security.

The fighting began after the leader of an armed faction sympathetic to the Islamist Badr group fired at the headquarters of the joint security force.

A witness said a wary calm prevailed over the camp on Wednesday. Parts of the camp had suffered severe destruction. Houses were burnt, while shops and the water and electricity networks were damaged, witnesses said.

A security source said a total of 43 civilians and combatants had been wounded since the fighting broke out.

Clashes had escalated on Wednesday, the source said, when gunfire wounded three people, including two Lebanese security personnel, outside the camp.

In April, seven people were killed in clashes in the camp between the Badr group and the joint security force after it deployed there.

Lebanon's Palestinian camps, which date back to the 1948 war between Israel and its Arab neighbours, largely fall outside the jurisdiction of Lebanese security services. There are some 450,000 Palestinian refugees living in 12 camps in Lebanon. </s> SIDON, Lebanon, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Two members of the Palestinian group Fatah were killed in worsening clashes with Islamist groups in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon on Wednesday, medical sources said, bringing the number of dead to six in nearly a week of fighting.

The clashes at the Ain el-Hilweh camp began late last Thursday between Islamist fighters and a joint force comprising the main Palestinian factions, including Fatah, which are responsible for the camp's security.

Two other Fatah members and two Islamist fighters had already been killed and a total of 15 combatants and civilians have been wounded, a security source said.

The source said clashes had escalated on Wednesday, when gunfire wounded three people, including two Lebanese security personnel, outside the camp.

The fighting was triggered when a leader of an armed faction sympathetic to the Islamist Badr group fired at the headquarters of the joint security force last week.

In April, seven people were killed in clashes in the camp between the Badr group and the joint security force after it deployed there.

Lebanon's Palestinian camps, which date back to the 1948 war between Israel and its Arab neighbours, mainly fall outside the jurisdiction of Lebanese security services. There are some 450,000 Palestinian refugees living in 12 camps in Lebanon. (Writing by Sarah Dadouch; Editing by Angus McDowall and Mark Trevelyan) </s> By AFP - Aug 19,2017 - Last updated at Aug 19,2017

Smoke rises from buildings in Ain Al Hilweh, Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, near the southern coastal city of Sidon, during clashes between Palestinian security forces and Islamist fighters, on Saturday (AFP photo)

SIDON, Lebanon — Palestinian security forces on Saturday battled radical Islamist gunmen in Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp near the southern Port of Sidon, for the third consecutive day.

The clashes first broke out on Thursday when gunmen from the small Islamist Badr group opened fire on a position of Palestinian security forces inside Ain Al Hilweh camp, a Palestinian source said.

Two people were killed in that fighting.

An AFP reporter said the clashes eased on Friday before intensifying again on Saturday, forcing dozens of families to flee the camp and seek shelter in Sidon mosques.

The sound of fierce gunfire and rocket fire could be heard outside the camp as black smoke billowed over Ain Al Hilweh, said the reporter.

The fighting shook the Al Tiri district a few metres away from a Lebanese army position.

By longstanding convention, the Lebanese army does not enter Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, leaving the factions themselves to handle security.

The Islamist group is linked to Bilal Badr, a militant wanted in connection with "terrorism" who has refused to surrender, according to a Lebanese security official.

In April, his supporters also clashed intermittently for a week with Palestinian security forces, in violence that left nine dead and more than 50 wounded.

A joint Palestinian security force, comprising members of the key Fatah and Hamas factions, has for months strived to rein in Badr fighters.

Ain Al Hilweh — the most densely populated Palestinian camp in Lebanon — is home to some 61,000 Palestinians, including 6,000 who have fled the war in neighbouring Syria.

Several armed factions including extremist groups have a foothold in the camp which has been plagued for years by intermittent clashes. </s> Three Palestinians were wounded in renewed fighting in the refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh Monday as rival factions ignored a cease-fire call by the head of the Palestinian National Security Forces in Lebanon, Gen. Sobhi Abou al-Arab, Palestinian sources said.



A statement issued after the meeting condemned the "treacherous attack" carried out by militant leader Bilal Arqoub and his followers on one of the joint Palestinian security force's positions in Ain al-Hilweh that resulted in the death of an officer with the force and wounded a number of its members.



The meeting followed renewed clashes between the joint Palestinian security force backed by the Fatah movement and followers of hard-line militia leaders Arqoub and Bilal Badr.



Seeking to tighten the noose on the militant leaders in Ain al-Hilweh, Fatah fighters recaptured 60 percent of Al-Tiri neighborhood and hoisted Palestinian and Fatah flags on 10 buildings in the area, the sources added.



Ain al-Hilweh, the largest of Lebanon's 12 Palestinian camps, is home to around 100,000 Palestinian refugees.

... </s> Five die and dozens suffer injuries as fighting between rival groups continues in Lebanon's largest Palestinian camp.

At least five people have been killed and 35 wounded in nearly a week of fighting in the largest Palestinian camp in Lebanon.

Two members of the Palestinian group Fatah were killed on Wednesday during clashes with other armed groups in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, according to medical sources.

The fighting began last Thursday after the leader of an armed faction sympathetic to the Bilal Badr group fired at the headquarters of the joint security force for the camp.

Since then, fighters have clashed with the joint security force comprising the main Palestinian factions, including Fatah, which is responsible for the camp's security.

The Bilal Badr group has been described by the Lebanese government as an "Islamist group", with a number of factions supporting its wanted leader.

The fighting escalated on Wednesday, when gunfire wounded three people, including two Lebanese security personnel, outside of the camp, according to a security source.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from Beirut, said that "essentially, what we are seeing here [Ain al-Hilweh] is a turf war".

"There are people who are trying to fight over these very narrow lanes and streets of this refugee camp, which is home to around 50,000 Palestinian refugees."

The two sides agreed to a ceasefire deal later on Wednesday, but Tyab said such agreements "continue to unravel".

A witness told Reuters news agency that a war calm prevailed over the camp on Wednesday, with parts of the area suffering severe destruction.

Houses were burned and the camp's water and electricity networks were damaged, other witnesses said.

Al Jazeera's Tyab said that the camp "is a very densely populated and poverty-stricken place that has seen violence consistently for many years now".

Palestinians in Lebanon are not allowed to own land and are prohibited from many professions, leading to a "mix of uncertainty, unrest and poverty", Tyab said.

In April, seven people were killed and dozens were injured in similar fighting between the same two groups.

Lebanon's Palestinian camps, which date back to the 1948 war between Israel and its Arab neighbours, largely fall outside the jurisdiction of Lebanese security services.

There are some 450,000 Palestinian refugees living in 12 camps in Lebanon. </s> Armed clashes intensified Tuesday afternoon in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh in the southern city of Sidon, state-run National News Agency reported.

According to NNA, the sounds of rocket-propelled grenades and heavy gunfire were echoing across the camp's al-Tiri neighborhood, the bastion of the small Islamist groups led by the militants Bilal Badr and Bilal al-Orqoub.

The clashes are pitting the two groups against the secular Fatah Movement and the Joint Palestinian Security Force.

“Since the morning hours, the camp had been witnessing intermittent gunfire, while at noon the Fatah Movement scoured areas inside al-Tiri neighborhood after seizing control and hoisting flags on seven houses previously containing militants loyal to Badr and al-Orqoub,” NNA said.

“Two houses went up in flames after being targeted by RPGs,” the agency added.

It said the heavy fighting is concentrated on the frontiers of al-Tiri, al-Suhoun and the vegetable market and that the sounds of shelling were echoing across the camp.

A ceasefire agreement had been reached on Monday evening after a meeting at the house of Usbat al-Ansar official Sheikh Abu Tarek al-Saadi, TV networks said.

Several such agreements have so far failed to put an end to the fighting.

The clashes first broke out Thursday when gunmen from Badr's small group opened fire on a position of Palestinian security forces inside Ain al-Hilweh, a Palestinian source said.

Several people have been killed and injured in the violence while dozens of families have been forced to flee the camp and seek shelter in the city of Sidon. </s> Lebanon's prime minister visited troops near the border with Syria on Wednesday, saying victory against Islamic State militants in the frontier region is near.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri spoke to reporters in Ras Baalbek, where he inspected the command center for the ongoing military operation against hundreds of IS militants, which was launched on Saturday.

“I never doubted the Lebanese army,” Hariri said.

The U.S.-backed Lebanese military is now preparing for the final phase of the operation. The military says it controls over 80 percent of the areas previously held by IS and has driven the militants from some 100 square kilometers (62 square miles).

The Syrian army and its ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah group, have launched a simultaneous operation to clear IS from the Syrian side of the border in the western Qalamoun mountain range. Hezbollah has been fighting in Syria alongside President Bashar Assad's forces since 2013.

The operation has outraged IS sympathizers in Lebanon, including extremists at the notoriously lawless Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh, known for harboring Islamist fugitives.

Heavy fighting between security forces and radical Islamists erupted in the camp for hours Wednesday, sending plumes of smoke over the settlement south of the capital, Beirut. Heavy gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades echoed across the camp's al-Tiri neighborhood, where small Islamic militant groups are based.

Wednesday's violence spilled beyond the camp's borders with gunfire reaching buildings in the port of Sidon.

A Palestinian security official said five people were killed, including one civilian, in the fighting which pitted the militants against the mainstream Palestinian Fatah Movement. Lebanese security forces stay out of Palestinian refugee camps in accordance with a longstanding agreement.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make comments to the press.

A cease-fire was later reached that halted the fighting, which has sporadically erupted over the past few days. </s> A cease-fire Sunday brought a tentative calm to Ain al-Hilweh after days of clashes shook the south Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp.



However, fierce fighting turned to sporadic gunfire and then occasional sniper fire as the last gunshots were heard around noon Sunday, hours after a third cease-fire agreement was reached, according to a source inside the camp.



Arqoub had been forced to leave his house Thursday following an armed confrontation with members of the camp's joint Palestinian security force, and it subsequently burned down.



One Fatah member was also killed Saturday in a rocket propelled grenade attack that caused fires to erupt in areas outside the camp, including in Siroub and the Mieh Mieh refugee camp.



Ain al-Hilweh, the largest of Lebanon's 12 Palestinian camps, is home to around 100,000 Palestinian refugees.

... </s> BEIRUT (AP) - Lebanon's prime minister visited troops near the border with Syria on Wednesday, saying victory against Islamic State militants in the frontier region is near.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri spoke to reporters in Ras Baalbek, where he inspected the command center for the ongoing military operation against hundreds of IS militants, which was launched on Saturday.

"I never doubted the Lebanese army." Hariri said.

In this photo released Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017, by the Lebanese Army official website, Lebanese soldiers sit a top armored personnel carriers during a battle against Islamic State militants, on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek, northeast Lebanon. Lebanon's prime minister has visited troops near his country's border with Syria, and said that victory against the Islamic State group is near. Arabic reads, "Army command, the Directorate of Orientation." (Lebanese Army Website via AP)

The U.S.-backed Lebanese military is now preparing for the final phase of the operation. The military says it controls over 80 percent of the areas previously held by IS and has driven the militants from some 100 square kilometers (40 square miles).

The Syrian army and its ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah group, have launched a simultaneous operation to clear IS from the Syrian side of the border in the western Qalamoun mountain range. Hezbollah has been fighting in Syria alongside President Bashar Assad's forces since 2013.

The operation has outraged IS sympathizers in Lebanon, including extremists at the notoriously lawless Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh, known for harboring Islamist fugitives.

Heavy fighting between security forces and radical Islamists erupted in the camp for hours Wednesday, sending plumes of smoke over the settlement south of the capital, Beirut. Heavy gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades echoed across the camp's al-Tiri neighborhood, where small Islamic militant groups are based.

Wednesday's violence spilled beyond the camp's borders with gunfire reaching buildings in the port of Sidon.

A Palestinian security official said five people were killed, including one civilian, in the fighting which pitted the militants against the mainstream Palestinian Fatah Movement. Lebanese security forces stay out of Palestinian refugee camps in accordance with a longstanding agreement.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make comments to the press.

A cease-fire was later reached that halted the fighting, which has sporadically erupted over the past few days.

In this photo released Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017, by the Lebanese Army official website, Lebanese soldiers take position during a battle against Islamic State militants, on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek, northeast Lebanon. Lebanon's prime minister has visited troops near his country's border with Syria, and said that victory against the Islamic State group is near. Arabic reads, "Army command, the Directorate of Orientation." (Lebanese Army Website via AP)
Renewed clashes between Islamist extremists and the Fatah-supported Joint Palestinian Security Force at the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugees camp, near Sidon, Lebanon, wound three more Palestinians.