Armed Palestinian Groups In Lebanon Started Handing Over Their Weapons To The Government

BEIRUT: On Thursday, a joint committee said that Palestinian groups residing in Lebanon have started acting upon the deal made in May, and handed over their weapons to the Lebanon government.

Palestinian groups handing over the weapons:

Labenese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee Chairman Ramez Dimasheikh issued a statement in which he clearly stated that the Palestinian groups are now disarming themselves. The Lebanese government, however, gave a target to the army to make a plan through which the Hezbollah group would also give its weapons to the government by the end of this year.

He said, “Today marks the beginning of the first phase of the process of handing over weapons from inside the Palestinian camps.”  He also added that the process of disarming the Palestinian groups would start from the Burj al-Barajneh camp in Beirut.

A Palestinian security official said, “Fatah will begin handing over its weapons in Burj al-Barajneh camp within the framework of the coordination with the Lebanese army.”

In May, the Palestinian group taking refuge in Lebanon signed an agreement with the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. According to this agreement, the Palestinian group will hand over all its weapons to the Lebanese government. 

A Palestinian security source 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.” The source said that the step is taken to persuade other Palestinian groups to take a similar step and hand over their weapons as well.

The US pressured Lebanon:

The Palestinian Authority does not put pressure on other groups, including Hamas, to do so. The US has pressured the Lebanese to disarm Palestinian groups taking shelter in Lebanon after last year’s war between the Iran-backed Lebanese movement with Israel.

According to the United Nations Agency UNRWA, Lebanon is hosting 222,000 Palestinian refugees. The handing over of the weapons was expected to start in mid-June, but due to the Iran-Israel war, the process did not start.

Fatah leadership member, Badie al-Habet, said, “Thursday would see the turning over of illegitimate weapons in the hands of illegitimate individuals.”

The US envoy congratulated the government:

The US Envoy congratulated the government on its efforts to disarm the Palestinian groups in Lebanon. Barrack congratulated the government and the Palestinian Fateh movement and said that, “agreement on voluntary disarmament in Beirut camps, a great accomplishment as a result of the bold action recently taken by the Lebanese Council of Ministers. A historic step toward unity and stability, showing true commitment to peace and cooperation.”