After successfully taking control of weapons outside Palestinian refugee camps, the Lebanese state is now turning its attention to arms inside the camps, placing the issue squarely on the front burner for the first time in years. The goal is to ensure all weapons are held exclusively by legitimate security forces and to reinforce state authority across the entirety of Lebanese territory.

Efforts to address this sensitive file gained momentum following the visit of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and a subsequent Lebanese-Palestinian security meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. That meeting focused on setting a clear mechanism for implementing the agreement on weapons within the camps.

According to available information, the disarmament process is set to begin in mid-June, starting with three camps located in Beirut. In this context, President Joseph Aoun convened a high-level security meeting at Baabda Palace, during which officials reviewed the measures needed to launch the withdrawal of weapons from the camps.

The disarmament plan, agreed upon during Mahmoud Abbas's visit to Beirut, outlines the full handover of weapons from inside the camps, excluding personal defensive arms, Ambassador Ramzi Damaschkieh, head of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, told Kataeb.org.

Asked whether the disarmament is linked to granting civil rights to Palestinian refugees, Damaschkieh emphasized that these rights are legitimate and long overdue.

“The joint committee was established to follow up on those demands,” he said. “There’s no doubt that what has been granted so far is far from sufficient. Improving the financial and living conditions of Palestinians in Lebanon would actually benefit the Lebanese economy as a whole.”

“Once weapons are withdrawn, the pressure on the camps will ease. But it's important to stress: granting rights is a duty, and disarmament is not conditional upon it.”

Addressing concerns about how the state will deal with armed factions that oppose surrendering their weapons, Damaschkieh pointed to Abbas’s own position.

“During his last visit, President Abbas made it clear: weapons inside the camps have done nothing to advance the Palestinian cause or liberate Palestine. Instead, they’ve come at a high cost to both Lebanon and Palestine.”

“We’ll engage in dialogue with all parties. We want the disarmament process to proceed peacefully, and it must move forward, for the sake of the camps and everyone in them.”

A key component of the next phase involves coordination with Palestinian factions on the ground. Damaschkieh revealed that a Palestinian delegation made up of the heads of three security agencies is scheduled to arrive in Lebanon next week. Their mission will be to coordinate with Palestinian factions on the logistics of the disarmament process. Internal Palestinian dialogue is already underway in an effort to avoid any clashes and ensure the transition is smooth.

“In the same way that weapons were collected outside the camps, they must now be collected from inside them as well," Damaschkieh concluded. 

This is the English adaptation of an article posted on Kataeb.org by Julie Majdalani.