Two people were shot dead and others wounded on Monday in a Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon after a dispute between rival political groups erupted into gunfire, Reuters witnesses and a Palestinian Security Committee statement said.

Abd al-Rahman Qablawi, a member of the mainstream Palestinian faction Fatah, was shot by Omar al-Nattur, who belongs to a hardline Islamist group. A relative of al-Nattur, Mahmoud al-Nattur, was then shot dead in response, according to a statement released by the camp's Palestinian High Security Committee.

At least two people were injured in the dispute and subsequent gunfire, one witness said.

Ain al-Hilweh camp, near the southern Lebanese coastal city of Sidon, has regularly seen factional disputes spiral into deadly violence.

"The High Security Committee considers security in the camp to be a red line which must not be breached at whatever cost," the statement said, adding it will work with the camp's joint security force to arrest the two men's killers.