A fragile calm prevailed in the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh after a member of Jund al-Sham, a militant Islamist Palestinian group, succumbed to his wounds a day earlier, a source told The Daily Star Thursday. Mahmoud Omar Abdulkader, who was seriously wounded during a shootout at the camp last week, died late Wednesday raising the death toll to three. The source said that Palestinians fear that the situation at the camp could further deteriorate if rival factions didn't exert efforts to restore calm. Talal Maqdah, a Fatah Movement fighter, and Diab Mohammad, a civilian, were killed in separate shootings in the camp last week. Clashes began after two fighters from the Al-Shabab al-Muslim Islamist group were ambushed in the Saffouri neighborhood. Although no group claimed responsibility for the attack, Fatah members expressed support for the operation, saying it came in retaliation for the assassination of Fatah commander Col. Talal Urduni and his nephew. Fatah believes that members of Al-Shabab al-Muslim were behind Urduni's killing. On Tuesday, unidentified gunmen shot and seriously wounded at dawn Hussein Masaad Hjeir, who is a member of Jund al-Sham, in Ain al-Hilweh. The tension between the two groups compelled Fatah movement to fortify their positions in the camp, vowing not to allow its rivals to pass through their checkpoints. The measures angered Jund al-Sham that responded by saying it would enter by force if they are barred from accessing the entrance to the camp.
