No Isolation Wall to Surround Palestinian Camp S Lebanon
Local Editor
The Lebanese Army issued a statement on Friday seeking to downplay the effects of a security wall being built around a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon.
"It's merely a protective fence in some sectors that don't oversee residential areas. The military command affirms that there is no decision to erect such a wall between the camp and its surroundings," the army said in a statement.
The statement refers to an Army plan to build a wall around the Ain al-Hilweh camp near Sidon to "prevent the infiltration of terrorists from and into it."
Camp entrances will remain open, but the wall will close tunnels that Ain al-Hilweh residents use to access nearby agricultural fields, the statement said.
Army Intelligence officials and senior Palestinian faction officials had "previously agreed on the matter."
However, Palestinian factions and a number of local officials and MPs are opposed to the wall, and have called on the Army to cease construction immediately.
Construction at the camp's western and southern borders appeared to have stopped on Thursday.
Sources, however, said that this didn't mean that the project was suspended. The sources said there might be preparations to continue with the work.
Palestinian factions had previously backed the security wall after negotiations with the Army but reversed their decision this week amid local and international outcry against the project.
The backlash comes amid a heightened level of cooperation between the Army and Palestinian leadership. A number of wanted militants from the camp surrendered to the Army recently after they were promised fair trials and guarantees that they would not be tortured.
Ain al-Hilweh camp is notorious for instability and a canton for several hardline radical groups.
Extremists often take refuge inside the camp, which is off-limits to the Lebanese security agencies and is instead managed by a joint security force representing the camp's multiple factions.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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