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.