The Lebanese Army on Thursday received a large handover of weapons from the Palestinian Fatah movement as part of a plan to place all arms under State control and disarm camps across the country.

The weapons were delivered from the Rashidieh, Al-Bass and Burj al-Shamali refugee camps in the southern city of Tyre and transported to the barracks of the army’s 2nd Intervention Regiment in the Shwakeer area.

Seven truckloads were handed over, containing light weapons, shells and B7 rocket launchers, the sources said. One of the shipments was described as particularly large, including heavy weapons such as Grad rockets.

The handover was overseen by senior Lebanese and Palestinian officials, including Lebanon’s ambassador Ramez Dimaskiyeh, Palestinian National Security chief Major General Sobhi Abu Arab, South Lebanon Intelligence Director Colonel Suheil Harb, 2nd Regiment commander Brigadier General Jihad Khaled, and Tyre Intelligence chief Colonel Mohammad Hazer.

The move comes as the Lebanese Army begins what officials have described as its most extensive operation to collect weapons since the end of the country’s 1975–1990 civil war. The initiative, coordinated with the Palestinian Authority, is aimed at accelerating the removal of arms from camps in both southern and northern Lebanon as part of efforts to reaffirm the state’s monopoly on weapons.

مشاهد من عملية تسليم السلاح للجيش اللبناني في مخيم البص pic.twitter.com/h30APoMr7c

— kataeb.org (@kataeb_Ar) August 28, 2025