BEIRUT: Conflicting accounts emerged Tuesday regarding the armed clashes on the outskirts of a Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut’s southern suburbs, with some reports saying 10 Hezbollah members were wounded.

A security source told The Daily Star Tuesday that the fight, which involved machine guns and hand grenades, erupted around 6:30 p.m. Monday when a group of Hezbollah members attempted to enter a predominantly-Kurdish neighborhood on the edge of Bourj al-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Hezbollah members traded fire with a group of men from the Kurdish Omairat family, the source said.

At least 14 people were reportedly wounded, including 10 Hezbollah members and two Palestinians.

The wounded Hezbollah men were taken to Rasoul al-Aazam hospital near Bourj al-Barajneh, according to the source.

The source said Hezbollah elements have denied Lebanese security forces access to the hospital as the party tries to stop information about the fighting becoming public.

When contacted by The Daily Star Monday, Ibrahim Moussawi, Hezbollah’s media official, denied any involvement by the group.

Meanwhile, a Hamas official in Bourj al-Barajneh, Mashour Abdel Halim, denied the fighting was anything other than a personal dispute.

Halim denied reports that the violence was between Hezbollah and a group of Salafis, saying it had been triggered by two men – a Lebanese and a Palestinian – over a parking spot.

“There is no security or political motive behind the brawl,” Halim told The Daily Star by telephone. “The fight is purely personal.”

He said the clash, which started off as a fist fight between the two young men, quickly developed into exchange of fire after supporters of both men got involved.

Halim said two Palestinians were slightly wounded in the clashes which were soon contained after the intervention of local officials and the Lebanese Army. 

The security source told The Daily Star that the confrontation lasted about an hour after which Lebanese troops stepped in and restored order in the neighborhood.

Kataeb Party MP Elie Marouni said Tuesday that the clash is a “message to Patriarch Rai and to all Lebanese that weapons in the hands of militias harm the country and its security.”