Palestinian 'intelligence' official narrowly survives assassination attempt in Lebanon

The car in which Brig. Gen. Ismail Sharrouf was travelling in came under fire near the southern coastal city of Sidon's central bank on Sunday by unidentified assailants

MENA

1 min read

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30 January, 2017

The assassination attempt took place in the southern coastal city of Sidon [Getty]

A senior Palestinian official was recovering in hospital on Sunday after surviving an assassination attempt in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon.

Brig. Gen. Ismail Sharrouf, a security official at the Palestinian embassy in Lebanon, came under fire while driving near the Central Bank of Lebanon’s Sidon branch, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.

The agency added that the Palestinian official - described by LBCI TV as "the head of intelligence at Palestine’s (Lebanon) embassy" - was "lightly injured" in the attack.

Sharrouf was transferred to a Beirut hospital having initially been taken to Sidon’s Hamshari hospital, under request from the Palestinian embassy.

A source in the embassy, quoted in Quds al-Araby, said that Palestinian officials were working with Lebanese authorities in order to investigate the attack, and bring those responsible to justice.

Ashraf Dabour, Palestine’s Ambassador to Lebanon, has condemned the attack as an attempt to destabilise Lebanon’s 450,000 strong Palestinian community.

Most of Lebanon's Palestinians live in 12 camps which are self-governed by Palestinian authorities, where living conditions are notoriously poor.