05/21/2007
Tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon. They started arriving in 1948, when they lost their territories due to the creation of the State of Israel, and mainly in 1967, when Israel conquered the West Bank and Gaza.
They settled in refugee camps that became little cities, as houses substituted the tents. Actually twelve camps are situated in Lebanon. They form a kind of State within the Lebanese State. Palestinians administer the camps and have their own militia. The Lebanese army never enters the camps.
Palestinians tried to continue their resistance against Israel from Lebanon, which had two consequences: firstly, the outbreak of Lebanese civil war of 1979 and, secondly, the invasion of South Lebanon by Israel in 1982. Actually, Lebanese Palestinians are seen well by the Shiite party Hizbollah who consider them as their allies, whereas Christians and president Siniora look at them with suspicion.
Siniora ordered troops to surround some of the Palestinian camps to better control one of the Palestinian militia, Fatah Islam, accused of several attacks. That’s what unleashed the clashes and put Lebanon on the edge of disaster.
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