Coordination has begun between the Lebanese Army and Palestinian factions in the Beddawi refugee camp in northern Lebanon to hand over control of checkpoints at the camp’s entrances, Annahar newspaper reported Sunday.

Palestinian factions say they do not oppose the move, noting that the checkpoints in question are located outside the geographical boundaries of the camp itself. Beddawi is home to around 40,000 residents, including some 300 Lebanese families. While welcoming any initiative that could help stabilize conditions, faction representatives cautioned that the camp has numerous pedestrian entrances and warned that closing them could disrupt the daily movement of residents.

Discussions between the two sides are ongoing, with Palestinian groups indicating that the handover could take place in the coming days. However, they stressed that any approach to the camps must go beyond security considerations. Palestinian leaders have called for a comprehensive review of the broader situation of refugees in Lebanon, pointing to President Joseph Aoun’s pledge in his inaugural address to ensure Palestinians in the country can live with dignity.

Several factions told Annahar they support “any step aimed at extending full Lebanese sovereignty over all territory, including the Palestinian camps.” At the same time, they insisted that such measures should be accompanied by progress on long-standing social and economic demands.

That broader approach has previously been discussed within the framework of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee. Lebanese officials involved in the talks have emphasized the need to safeguard the rights of Palestinian refugees as long-term guests in Lebanon until their eventual return to their homeland, from which they were displaced 78 years ago.

Lebanese authorities have repeatedly maintained that restricting weapons is essential to asserting state authority across the country. Officials argue that arms inside the camps no longer serve any legitimate purpose and that resolving the sensitive weapons issue must be paired with efforts to improve living conditions for Palestinians. The need for such improvements has become more urgent as services provided by UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, continue to decline.

Abdallah Dannan, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s foreign relations official in Lebanon, confirmed there was no Palestinian objection to handing over the Beddawi checkpoints to the army.

“The issue should be addressed not only from a security angle, but by looking at the dire living conditions of refugees and their social rights,” he said, adding that his faction holds only light individual weapons, similar to many other groups.

One obstacle in the process has been Lebanon’s tendency to deal mainly with factions affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization while sidelining others. Although meetings of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee have included representatives from a broader Palestinian alliance, those discussions have been limited and have yet to produce a unified position on either weapons or refugee rights.

Palestinian sources also note that the camps in Lebanon are not under the authority of the Palestinian Authority and should not be treated as such. They argue that dialogue should involve all factions and organizations operating in the camps and should address all outstanding issues, rather than focusing solely on disarmament.

The Palestinian issue entered a new phase last May following a visit to Lebanon by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and a joint announcement with Lebanese leaders on the need to confine weapons to state control. Since then, several camps have handed over arms to the Lebanese Army, starting with Burj al-Barajneh in Beirut and extending to camps in the south, including Ain al-Hilweh, Rashidiyeh and Burj al-Shamali, as well as camps in Beirut, the north and the Bekaa Valley.

For Lebanon, the surrender of weapons remains a non-negotiable matter of national sovereignty. Palestinian factions, however, insist that progress on security must be matched by concrete steps to address deteriorating social and economic conditions in the camps, where poverty and neglect have steadily worsened in recent years.