Palestinians Refuse Assir's Call To Join Battle in Sidon
Hamas is staying out of Lebanon’s sectarian conflict.
Today, there is an attempt to involve the Palestinian factions in the sectarian political conflict in Lebanon. On June 23, Salafi cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir urged all Sunnis in the country, including the Palestinians, to assist his group in their battle against the Lebanese army and Shiite Hezbollah.
The representative of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas in Beirut, Ali Baraka, told Al-Monitor in a phone interview on June 23 that his movement and other Palestinian factions have nothing to do with the clashes between the Lebanese army and Assir's group in Abra, a suburb of Sidon in southern Lebanon.
But some Palestinians of the extremist Islamist groups Jund al-Sham and Fatah al-Islam have responded to Assir’s call and on June 23 fired on the Lebanese army checkpoint in the Hay al-Taamir area, near the Palestinian camp of Ein el-Hilweh located near Sidon.
Baraka revealed to Al-Monitor that during the phone call he was in Sidon, mediating with Hezbollah and the Amal movement to prevent any involvement in these clashes by Palestinian factions in Ein el-Hilweh.
