A new ceasefire entered into force on Thursday evening in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, where 17 people were killed and about 100 others injured during a week of confrontations.

On September 7, clashes broke out between the Fatah movement and extremist Islamic groups in the camp located on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon, which is considered the largest for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

The ceasefire was announced after separate talks between Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and high-ranking officials from the Fatah and Hamas movements, who were sent to Lebanon to try to calm the situation.

The official in the camp, Fouad Othman, said that a meeting took place between Berri and a member of the Executive Committees of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Central Committee of the Fatah movement, Azzam al-Ahmad. Berri also met with a member of the Hamas political bureau, Musa Abu Marzouk, and “it was agreed with the two parties to implement a ceasefire... starting today.” (Thursday) at 18:00 (15:00 GMT).

After the new ceasefire entered into force on Thursday, the sound of gunfire stopped being heard, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent.

Othman said that Hamas is not participating in the fighting, but "is in a relationship with the other party."

Since the fighting began on September 7, 17 people have been killed and about 100 others wounded, according to Imad Hallaq, an official with the Palestinian Red Crescent in Lebanon.

An Agence France-Presse correspondent reported that five Fatah fighters were buried on Thursday.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said that hundreds of families have fled the camp since the fighting began.

On Thursday, Army Commander General Joseph Aoun inspected the 1st Infantry Brigade, deployed in the vicinity of the camp, where he visited the brigade’s leadership at the Muhammad Zgheib barracks in Sidon, met with officers and soldiers, and listened to a briefing on the missions carried out in light of the clashes taking place inside the Ain al-Hilweh camp.

At the end of July and the beginning of August, similar confrontations resulted in the killing of 13 people, including a Fatah leader, in an ambush. They continued for five days before calming down after a series of contacts between Palestinian factions and Lebanese officials and parties.

The Lebanese security forces do not enter the Palestinian camps according to an implicit agreement between the PLO and the Lebanese authorities. The Palestinian factions undertake a kind of self-security inside the camps through a joint security force.

Ain al-Hilweh camp is known for harboring extremist Islamic groups and outlaws. It is home to more than 54,000 Palestinian refugees registered with the United Nations, joined during the past years by thousands of Palestinians fleeing the conflict in Syria.

It often witnesses assassinations and sometimes clashes, especially between Palestinian factions and extremist Islamic groups.

The Fatah movement is the most prominent faction in the camp, where Hamas is also present. Extremist Islamic groups take several neighborhoods as their stronghold, one of which is the area that mainly witnessed the recent clashes with the Fatah movement.