San Francisco Frontiers - Palestinian camps in Lebanon begin disarming

The efforts at disarmament came after the Lebanese government, under US pressure, tasked the army with formulating a plan to also disarm the militant group Hezbollah by the end of the year.

The Lebanese army took into its custody a number of weapons in the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut's southern suburbs.

An AFP photographer saw a truck filled with weapons and ammunition transported from the camp to a nearby parking lot, where Lebanese army vehicles and personnel were deployed to inspect the cargo.

"Today marks the beginning of the first phase of the process of handing over weapons from inside the Palestinian camps," Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee chairman Ramez Dimashkieh had said in an earlier statement.

US envoy Tom Barrack offered his congratulations on the development, saying it marked "a historic step toward unity and stability, showing true commitment to peace and cooperation".

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also welcomed the move, saying that the "process will be completed with the handover of additional batches in the coming weeks from Burj al-Barajneh and other camps", according to a statement from his office.

A Palestinian security official had told AFP on condition of anonymity that "Fatah will begin handing over its weapons in Burj al-Barajneh camp within the framework of the coordination with the Lebanese army".

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who heads the Fatah movement, visited Beirut in May and reached an agreement with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that all arms in Palestinian camps would be surrendered to the state.

A Palestinian security source at Burj al-Barajneh camp said "Fatah's initiative in beginning to hand over weapons is symbolic, and came as a result of an agreement between Aoun and the Palestinian president's son, Yasser Abbas, who is currently visiting Beirut".

It aims to "encourage the remaining (Palestinian armed) factions to take the same step", the source said, noting that the other influential factions in the camp "have not yet decided to hand over their weapons".

The Palestinian Authority does not exercise power over the other factions in the camps, most notably Hamas.

- 'Illegitimate weapons' -

Lebanon has come under heavy US pressure to disarm Hamas's ally Hezbollah after the Iran-backed Lebanese movement was dealt a massive blow during its war with Israel last year.

That conflict was the culmination of a year of hostilities launched by Hezbollah in support of Hamas after the Palestinian group's October 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

Lebanon hosts about 222,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations agency UNRWA, with many living in overcrowded camps outside of the state's control.

The Ain al-Hilweh camp near the southern city of Sidon, for instance, is the largest in the country and houses individuals wanted by the Lebanese authorities.

The handover of weapons had been expected to begin in mid-June, but in an interview with Saudi-owned broadcaster Al Arabiya last week, Aoun attributed the delay to the Iran-Israel war that broke out that month, as well as to "internal considerations within the Palestinian Authority".

Badie al-Habet, a member of the Fatah leadership in Beirut, told AFP that Thursday would see the "turning over of illegitimate weapons in the hands of illegitimate individuals".

The weapons held by Palestinian security personnel in the refugee camps, however, were not included in the handover, he added.

Palestinian armed factions including Hamas have repeatedly fired at Israel from Lebanon since the start of the Gaza war and the ensuing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which a November ceasefire sought to end.

The ceasefire stipulated that only the Lebanese military would bear arms and that all forces would withdraw from the country's south, with the exception of the army and UN peacekeepers.

Israel has nonetheless continued to strike Lebanon regularly, and its troops still hold five positions in the south that it deems strategic.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, has said it will resist efforts to disarm it.

U.Campbell--SFF