Lebanese and Palestinian officials have agreed to form a joint committee tasked with implementing a framework for collecting weapons inside Palestinian refugee camps, according to Lebanese sources cited by Asharq Al-Awsat. The move follows a series of high-level meetings in Beirut with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The committee is scheduled to hold its first session on Friday in Beirut, where members are expected to lay out a detailed roadmap for disarming the camps and begin discussions on long-standing civil rights issues faced by Palestinians living in Lebanon.

The Lebanese delegation includes Ramzi Dimassiyeh, head of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee; Major General Hassan Shukeir, Director General of General Security; and Brigadier General Tony Qahwaji, chief of army intelligence. Representing the Palestinian side are Azzam al-Ahmad, Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO); Ashraf Dabbour, the Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon; and Fathi Abu al-Ardat, Secretary of Fatah and the PLO factions in the country.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam confirmed the initiative in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying he and President Abbas had agreed that the committee would develop a clear agenda for ensuring that all weapons in Palestinian camps fall under the control of the Lebanese state. The group will also address civil and legal challenges facing the estimated hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Salam emphasized that armed groups operating inside the camps no longer align with the broader objectives of the Palestinian national movement.

“These weapons no longer serve the Palestinian cause,” he said. “Instead, they risk fueling intra-Palestinian strife or even sparking conflict between Palestinians and Lebanese communities.”

He added that the real strength of the Palestinian struggle today lies not in armed resistance but in a growing wave of international recognition for Palestinian statehood.