The number of civilians killed in the fighting remains unknown, as the Lebanese authorities are restricting access due to the ongoing fighting. Health personnel who have gained access to the camp have focused on evacuating the wounded. A Lebanese Red Cross official told Human Rights Watch that the organization transferred at least 57 wounded from the camp to hospitals in the last 48 hours of fighting, including 40 on Tuesday. According to Reuters, at least 27 civilians have been killed since Sunday, as well as 22 militants and 32 soldiers. Read more about Human Rights Watch: Fighting at Refugee Camp Kills Civilians
BEIRUT, 22 May 2007 (IRIN) - A shaky ceasefire has failed to alleviate the worsening humanitarian crisis inside Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon, where over 40,000 civilians remained trapped as fighting between the Lebanese army and Islamic militants entered its third day. Though the army appeared to have eased its artillery and tank bombardment of positions suspected to be held by radical Sunni fighters from Fatah al-Islam, key relief organisations remained unable to access the camp to deliver aid to those in need. Read more about Crisis deepens as relief still not reaching besieged Palestinians
WASHINGTON, May 22 (IPS) - The violence in Lebanon’s Nahr al-Bader Palestinian refugee camp that has killed more than 55 people in the past two days is focusing attention on a relatively unknown and shadowy Islamist group, Fatah al-Islam. Two bombings in the Lebanese capital Beirut, one Sunday night and one late Monday, also killed one person and injured at least 20. The violence followed the attempted arrest by Lebanese officials of a group robbing a bank in early Sunday. Read more about Violence Highlights Regional Polarisation
Bethlehem - Ma’an News Agency - Fighting has entered its third day around the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr Al-Bared, in the north of Lebanon. According to media reports, Lebanese troops began shelling the Nahr Al-Bared camp, near the northern city of Tripoli, at dawn on Tuesday. The Lebanese army is reported to have pledged to “finish off” the radical Fatah Al-Islam group. Militants from the radical group Fatah Al-Islam responded with gun and mortar fire. The number of dead is not clear. Reports range from 50 to over 80 dead, including soldiers, militants and civilians. Read more about More than 100 dead and injured at Nahr Al-Bared camp
Lebanon - Ma’an - Fierce clashes between the Lebanese army and the Fatah Al-Islam organization have continued in northern Lebanon on Monday, Lebanese security sources have said. The confrontations are focused in the area around the Nahr Al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, located outside the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. At least 48 people have died in the two days of fighting, Lebanese sources said, most of them from the Lebanese army. According to media reports, more than 20 soldiers and 20 fighters from Fatah Al-Islam were killed in Sunday’s clashes, and an unconfirmed number of civilians. Read more about Fierce clashes continue at Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon
***Image1***BYBLOS, 13 May 2007 (IRIN) - Black slime coats beaches and oozes into rock pools in northern Lebanon, nine months after an oil spill led to international pledges to clean that stretch of coast. Oil clings to beach after beach north of Byblos, an ancient fishing port that is one of Lebanon’s main tourist attractions. Israel bombed an oil refinery in Jiyyeh, south of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, during its conflict with the armed wing of Lebanese political party Hezbollah last July. Read more about Environmentalists urge quicker clean-up as oil-spill again threatens sea
BEIRUT, May 7 (IPS) - As reconstruction resumes in the heavily bombed southern Beirut district Dahiyeh, the signs are evident of a rebuilding of resistance against Israel and the U.S.-backed government, largely by way of increased support for Hezbollah. Hezbollah is leading much of the reconstruction. Dahiyeh was bombed by the Israelis last year because it was seen as a Hezbollah stronghold. At least 15,000 houses were destroyed. Many local people accuse the U.S.-backed Lebanese government of refusal to help reconstruction in pro-Hezbollah areas like Dahiyeh. Read more about Resistance Being Rebuilt Too
BEIRUT, May 2 (IPS) - The influx of refugees from Palestinian areas and the inability of the government to do much for them has strengthened a unique NGO providing essential services. The Popular Aid for Relief and Development (PARD), which began working in the early 1980s before registering as an official NGO with the Lebanese government in 1990, has taken it upon itself to provide environmental services, health education, medical services and community development centres for refugees. Read more about Palestinian Refugees Learn to Substitute Government
BEIRUT, 27 April (IPS) - The killings of two pro-government Sunni Muslims has raised tensions across Lebanon. Rival political leaders have called for calm amidst fear that the killings could spark civil strife. The Lebanese police found the bodies Thursday of a pro-government supporter and a 12- year-old boy abducted earlier this week. The abduction was believed to be in retaliation for the killing earlier this year of a Shia Muslim opposition activist. Read more about Tensions Run High After Sunni Killings
SRIFA, Southern Lebanon, 27 April (IPS) - Close to a million unexploded bombs are estimated to litter southern Lebanon, according to UN forces engaged in the hazardous task of removing them. The United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) was created by the Security Council in 1978 to confirm an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and restore international peace and security. After the war last year it has a new job on its hands. Read more about One Unexploded Bomb Per Person
