Lebanon began disarming Palestinian factions in refugee camps

Lebanon began implementing its plan to disarm Palestinian factions in the country’s refugee camps on Thursday, starting with the Burj al-Barajneh camp in Beirut. The handover of weapons to the Lebanese army signals the first phase of a broader effort to consolidate armed power under state authority by the end of the year, a move pursued under international pressure and in line with a May agreement between the Lebanese presidency and Palestinian leadership.

The initial handover in Burj al-Barajneh involved a batch of weapons deposited with the army, according to officials overseeing the process. A Palestinian security official said that what had been handed over so far consisted of illegal weapons that had entered the camp recently, and that the broader objective is to gradually transfer control of arms from inside the camps to the state. Military convoys and watchful checkpoints accompanied the handover, underscoring the government’s determination to extend its security reach into areas long governed by Palestinian factions operating with limited state oversight.

The move is framed as the start of Lebanon’s state monopoly on arms, a goal endorsed by the government as part of a...