Hamas official escapes grenade attack in Lebanon

AIN AL-HILWEH, Lebanon (Reuters) - A local Hamas official escaped a grenade attack at a Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon on Friday night, security sources said.

Tension has risen at refugee camps in south Lebanon largely controlled by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group since Hamas routed Fatah in bloody fighting in the Gaza Strip this week.

The sources said a hand grenade was hurled at Abu Ahmad al-Fadh, Hamas's political representative at the Ain al-Hilweh camp near the port city of Sidon, as he was walking home. He was not harmed in the blast.

Fatah leaders at the camps had earlier in the day warned that they would not tolerate any armed Hamas presence. The Islamist militant group is involved in mainly political, media and social activity at Lebanon's 12 refugee camps, home to half of the 400,000 Palestinians in the country.