A Palestinian official was gunned down on Monday in the Ain El-Helweh refugee camp in Lebanon's coastal city of Sidon, a Palestinian source told Xinhua.

The source said that two unknown assailants riding a motorcycle opened fire at Colonel Jamil Zeidan while he was in his car near his house in the Tairi neighborhood in the camp.

Zeidan was rushed to hospital and died later from serious injures.

The assassination is the fifth attempt targeting Palestinian officials inside the camp within a year, raising tensions among the Palestinian factions in Lebanon.

Ain El-Helweh is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon and houses about 70,000 refugees.

The security situation inside the camp is now under control and the Lebanese army, according to a security agreement, is not allowed to enter the camp.