PLO advances disarmament plan for Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon

Officials engage with authorities in Beirut to implement Abbas-Aoun agreement

A view shows art on the wall of a building in Beirut depicting late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at Mar Elias Palestinian refugee camp. Reuters

A plan to disarm Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps is to move a step further as a senior Palestinian delegation visits Beirut to arrange "practical steps", The National has been told.

Despite the absence of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad from the decision-making process, the delegation led by deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Azzam Al Ahmad is in Beirut to discuss the next steps for implementing a multiphase plan to disarm Lebanon’s 12 Palestinian refugee camps in the coming weeks, a Palestinian source close to the Palestinian Authority told The National on Monday.

“We aim to establish and agree on the operational steps for implementing the camp disarmament plan in line with the agreement between Presidents Aoun and Abbas,” the source said. “This visit is meant to organise those practical steps from both the Lebanese and Palestinian sides.”

However, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has not held any formal talks with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad regarding the disarmament of the refugee camps, the source confirmed.

“We have not held talks with Hamas or Islamic Jihad, though we did discuss the developments with some factions during President Abbas’s visit,” the source added.

The National previously reported that Hamas in Lebanon has criticised the Palestinian Authority’s decision to disarm the camps in co-ordination with Lebanese authorities, saying it was made without their input.

“We call on the Lebanese government to open a responsible dialogue with the Joint Palestinian Action Committee, which includes all Palestinian factions and forces, to discuss the Palestinian situation in all its aspects,” Hamas’s representative in Lebanon, Ali Baraka, told The National in late May.

“Limiting the discussion to the security framework alone could open the door to the trap of resettlement or displacement, which is what [Israel] seeks,” he said.

Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha also criticised the initiative, describing the decision as “representing only the Palestinian Authority”.

According to the source close to the PA, the disarmament plan will begin in the three Beirut-area camps of Shatila, Bourj Al Barajneh, and Mar Elias, before expanding into the Bekaa and northern Lebanon. The final phase would see the camps in the south disarmed, ending with Ain Al Hilweh – the largest and most heavily armed of the 12 camps and the most likely challenge.

The issue of disarming Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, which fall outside Lebanese state control, has long been a contentious one. Armed groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad – aligned with Hezbollah and committed to armed resistance against Israel – have previously used Lebanon as a launch pad for attacks across the border.

The Palestinian Authority is internationally recognised as the governing body of parts of the Palestinian territories, but its legitimacy is contested by many Palestinians. In Lebanon, Palestinian refugee camps are not governed by the PA, but by inter-factional committees – some of whom do not pledge loyalty to the PA.

While some Palestinians view weapons as essential for self-defence, citing memories of the 1975–1990 Lebanese Civil War, others say arms have become tools of internal strife and criminal activity.

Under a long-standing understanding, the Lebanese army does not enter the Palestinian camps, leaving security to be handled by the factions themselves. That agreement, however, may be coming to an end.

Lebanese security sources and Fatah officials previously told The National that the plan to disarm the camps will involve lifting the army’s non-intervention policy.

“The discussions during the visit are focused on camp security and preventing the camps from becoming havens for fugitives,” the Palestinian source said. “The Palestinian Authority does not want Palestinians to form a ‘state within a state,’ and we are ready to co-operate with any proposal put forward by the Lebanese authorities.”

Serhan Serhan, deputy secretary of Fatah in Lebanon, echoed that position.

“We believe and trust that the Lebanese army will stabilise Lebanon, and we are part of Lebanon,” he said. “We are ready to co-operate.”