Hamas Says Oxygen Bottles Not Arms Exploded in Lebanon Camp

Lebanese army soldiers block the main entrance of Burj Shamali Palestinian refugee camp, in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. (AP)
Lebanese army soldiers block the main entrance of Burj Shamali Palestinian refugee camp, in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. (AP)
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Hamas Says Oxygen Bottles Not Arms Exploded in Lebanon Camp

Lebanese army soldiers block the main entrance of Burj Shamali Palestinian refugee camp, in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. (AP)
Lebanese army soldiers block the main entrance of Burj Shamali Palestinian refugee camp, in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. (AP)

The Palestinian Hamas group said Saturday that explosions that shook a refugee camp in southern Lebanon were caused by an electrical short-circuit in a storage area for oxygen bottles used to treat coronavirus patients.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency had reported that arms stored for Hamas exploded Friday in the Burj Shamali camp killing and injuring a number of people. A security official also said the explosions caused casualties but did not give a breakdown.

Hamas in a statement Saturday described the explosions as an “incident” adding that a fire in the refugee camp in the southern port city of Tyre caused limited damage. It gave no word on casualties but residents in the camp said at least one person was killed.

Hamas said the oxygen bottles and containers of detergents stored at the camp were to be distributed as part of its aid work in the camp.

“Hamas condemns the misleading media campaign and the spread of false news that accompanied the incident,” the group said in its statement. It added that reports about the cause of the blast and the “deaths of dozens” are baseless.

Immediately after the blasts, Lebanese troops deployed around the camp and briefly prevented people from entering or leaving.

NNA said the state prosecutor in southern Lebanon has asked security agencies and arms experts to inspect the Hamas arms storage site inside the camp.

Lebanon is home to tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Many live in the 12 refugee camps that are scattered around the small Mediterranean country.



UN Human Rights Office Says Israeli Plan for Settlement Near East Jerusalem Breaks Int'l Law

 A general view shows the E1 area, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, between the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim and the occupied West Bank town of Eizariya Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP)
A general view shows the E1 area, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, between the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim and the occupied West Bank town of Eizariya Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP)
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UN Human Rights Office Says Israeli Plan for Settlement Near East Jerusalem Breaks Int'l Law

 A general view shows the E1 area, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, between the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim and the occupied West Bank town of Eizariya Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP)
A general view shows the E1 area, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, between the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim and the occupied West Bank town of Eizariya Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP)

The UN human rights office said on Friday an Israeli plan to build to build thousands of new homes between an Israeli settlement in the West Bank and near East Jerusalem was illegal under international law, and would put nearby Palestinians at risk of forced eviction, which it described as a war crime. 

Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday vowed to press on a long-delayed settlement project, saying the move would "bury" the idea of a Palestinian state. 

The UN rights office spokesperson said the plan would break the West Bank into isolated enclaves and that it was "a war crime for an occupying power to transfer its own civilian population into the territory it occupies". 

About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, a move not recognised by most countries, but has not formally extended sovereignty over the West Bank. 

Most world powers say settlement expansion erodes the viability of a two-state solution by breaking up territory the Palestinians seek as part of a future independent state. 

The two-state plan envisages a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, existing side by side with Israel, which captured all three territories in the 1967 Middle East war. 

Israel cites historical and biblical ties to the area and says the settlements provide strategic depth and security and that the West Bank is "disputed" not "occupied".