Palestinian camps in Lebanon hand over weapons under joint security plan
Shafaq News – Beirut
The Lebanese army on Saturday received eight truckloads of weapons from Palestinian refugee camps, as part of the government’s plan to place all arms under state authority.
Palestinian security official Abdul Hadi al-Asadi said five trucks were collected from Ain al-Hilweh camp in Saida, southern Lebanon, and three from Al-Beddawi camp near Tripoli in the north. The transfer was coordinated with the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee.
The Committee described the handover as part of a roadmap agreed during a May summit between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. The plan seeks to gradually end the long-standing presence of weapons in the camps, a legacy of Lebanon’s civil war and the 1969 Cairo Agreement that left camp security in the hands of Palestinian groups.
The army said the shipment included rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and ammunition, all of which were handed to specialized military units for inspection.
استكمالًا لعملية تسلُّم السلاح من المخيمات الفلسطينية، تسلَّمَ الجيش حمولة ٥ شاحنات أسلحة من مخيم عين الحلوة - صيدا و٣ شاحنات من مخيم البداوي – طرابلس.شملت عملية التسلُّم أنواعًا مختلفة من الأسلحة والقذائف والذخائر الحربية، وقد تسلمتها الوحدات العسكرية المختصة للكشف عليها وإجراء… pic.twitter.com/hdjl4YwhXa
— الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) September 13, 2025
Earlier deliveries in August involved camps in Beirut and Tyre. Saturday’s transfer was seen as especially significant given Ain al-Hilweh’s reputation as Lebanon’s most volatile camp, where multiple factions and armed groups are present.
Lebanon is home to nearly half a million Palestinian refugees, more than half of whom live in 12 officially recognized camps run by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Lebanese security forces do not enter the camps but maintain strict checkpoints around them.
The Dialogue Committee said the disarmament process is “vital to strengthening Lebanese sovereignty, while also promoting stability in the camps and protecting the rights and dignity of Palestinian residents.”
