Islamic Jihad calls for killers of Palestinians in Lebanon camps to be punished

Islamic Jihad in Palestine called on Tuesday for Palestinians in refugee camps in Lebanon to be patient after shots were fired at a funeral, killing three refugees and wounding several others. The group stressed the importance of killers being caught and punished, Safa news agency has reported.

“Palestinians should be patient and ignore any attempt to push them into internal conflict,” said senior official Khaled Al-Batch. “They need to protect Palestinian rights and the Palestinian cause against all efforts to liquidate it.”

He insisted that, despite the massive pain caused by the crime, the people are able to deal with it. “The Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have expressed their deep commitment to unity, support for resistance and a pledge to return to their homeland in Palestine.”

The Islamic Jihad official sent his condolences to the families and relatives of the “oppressed martyrs” as well as to Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, as well as the Palestinian refugees. The three people killed were members of Hamas.

According to Safa, thousands of Palestinian refugees, scholars, factional leaders and Lebanese figures took part in the funeral of the three who were killed by the gunfire. It is alleged that the fatal shots were fired by forces loyal to Fatah, the main factional rival of Hamas.

READ: Hamas accuses PA of killing 3 of its members in Lebanon