Palestinian refugees in Lebanon celebrate Sharon’s death

Palestinians at the refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in Lebanon have celebrated the death of Israel’s former prime minister, Ariel Sharon.

Palestinian refugees fired into the air on Saturday in celebration over Sharon’s death.

Ain al-Hilweh camp, located in southern Lebanon, houses some 70,000 Palestinians.

Also in Shatila refugee camp in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Palestinians handed out sweets after hearing the news.

Sharon, known to many Palestinians as The Butcher, died earlier in the day at the age of 85.

He died at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, where he had been in coma since 2006, when hit by a stroke.

Sharon led Israel into a war with Lebanon in 1982 and was responsible for the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps outside Beirut, after his forces allowed allied Lebanese militias into the camps.

In Gaza, some Palestinians also handed out sweets to passersby and motorists while some others stepped on his photos.

Jibril Rajoub, a top Palestinian official of the Fatah party, described Sharon as a criminal and expressed regret that he had never appeared before the International Criminal Court.

Salah el-Bardaweel, a spokesman for Hamas noted in a statement that Sharon was a “criminal,” adding, “We pray to Allah that Sharon and all the Zionist leaders who committed massacres against our people to go to hell.”