Nine people were killed amid fights in a Palestinian refugee camp, Ein el-Hilweh, in Lebanon that continued till Monday after conflicts arose between opposing Islamist organisations and the Fatah movement over the weekend.

Following the conflicts, the Fatah movement, led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also confirmed that one of the movement’s commanders had also died due to the clashes.

The UN revealed that the restive Ein el-Hilweh camp is the largest in Lebanon with more than 63,000 registered refugees since being established in 1948.

However, other estimates suggest that the population is higher.

The camp falls outside the control of the Lebanese security forces as it is located close to the southern city of Sidon.

Rival factions within the camp are left to manage the camp’s security, but quarrels between them are frequent.

On Saturday, an Islamist group member was killed, leading to tensions continuing until Sunday. Fatah commander Ashraf al-Armouchi and his aides were killed as a result and a ceasefire was agreed upon, but skirmishes continued through the night, AFP reported.

Automatic weapons and anti-tank fire were heard in a camp, causing dozens of residents to flee. Meanwhile, ceasefire negotiations are ongoing, and a local MP is expected to hold a meeting to resolve tensions.

In a statement, Fatah condemned an “abominable and cowardly crime” aimed at undermining the “security and stability” of the Palestinian camps in Lebanon. The Palestinian presidency denounced the fighting, calling the security of the camps a “red line”.

“It is not permissible for anyone to intimidate our people and tamper with their security,” it said in a statement.

In addition to the nine dead, Lebanese soldiers were also injured during the violence, the Lebanese army said.

According to the BBC, the director of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon (UNRWA), Dorothee Kraus, said all the agency’s operations in the camp had been suspended and called on “all militant parties to ensure civilians’ safety and respect inviolability of UN premises”.

More than 479,000 refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, the agency says. About half live in the country’s 12 refugee camps, which have “dire” living conditions, it adds.