Every once in a while, in Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon — the “capital of southern Lebanon” — there are armed clashes between Fatah and al-Qaeda-affiliated fundamentalist groups such as Fatah al-Islam.

The latest clashes took place on Sept. 17, when a Jund al-Sham gunman tried to destroy a surveillance camera installed by Fatah al-Islam, whose members reacted by opening fire on him. An armed confrontation between the two groups ensued.

A few years ago, Muslim fundamentalist jihadist groups quietly established an “Islamic emirate” in the al-Taware neighborhood, which is adjacent to the camp. Technically, the neighborhood lies outside Ein ​​el-Hilweh refugee camp, but because of demographic and security interaction with the camp, the neighborhood has effectively become part of it.

The neighborhood houses both Lebanese and Palestinians. It is controlled by five jihadist groups ideologically linked to al-Qaeda. Each group has about 30 to 35 members and some of their leaders — such as Majed al-Majed (a Saudi citizen) and Haitham al-Shaibi (a Palestinian) — are organizationally linked to al-Qaeda’s strongman Ayman al-Zawahri.