BEIRUT (MEMO) – The Palestinian Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, has accused the Palestinian National Security Services, run by Palestinian Authority (PA), of killing three of its members during a funeral in Lebanon, a statement said.
According to the statement, the PA forces opened fire at the people who attended the funeral of Hamza Shaheen, who passed away on Friday night in an explosion in the Burj al-Shemali camp in the port city of Tyre.
“Although the funeral was organized and attended by Palestinian factions, dozens of Lebanese and Palestinian figures, thousands of Palestinian citizens, scholars, politicians and lawmakers, the PA-affiliated forces in the refugee camp deliberately opened fire towards the funeral using machine guns,” the statement said.
It added, “Unfortunately, the deliberate shooting at the funeral caused the death of three Hamas members in Lebanon… and many others were wounded.”
Hamas said, “We hold the PA forces in Lebanon fully responsible for this awful crime and the deliberate assassination of Palestinians participating in the funeral.”
The statement also read, “This crime is intended to sabotage the civil peace, security and stability of the Palestinian community residing in Lebanon.”
Hamas maintained that this “crime” only serves the Zionist occupation and called on Fatah and the other Palestinian factions and political parties “to denounce this plot.”
The Palestinian resistance movement stressed that the existence of such security forces in Lebanon “has become pointless, as it threatens the security of the refugee camps.”
Lebanon is home to tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Many live in the 12 refugee camps that are scattered across the small Mediterranean country.