War-displaced Syrians in Lebanon face a difficult dilemma as specter of a new conflict looms

Special War-displaced Syrians in Lebanon face a difficult dilemma as specter of a new conflict looms
Displaced by civil war, Syrians must now endure escalating violence in southern Lebanon or risk returning home. (Getty Images)
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Updated 03 September 2024
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War-displaced Syrians in Lebanon face a difficult dilemma as specter of a new conflict looms

War-displaced Syrians in Lebanon face a difficult dilemma as specter of a new conflict looms
  • Escalating hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel are deepening the plight of displaced Syrians, already living in extreme poverty
  • Refugees must now choose between onward migration, returning to an unsafe homeland, or remaining in a potential conflict zone

LONDON: Out of the frying pan and into the fire, Syrian refugees in Lebanon, who have found little respite since the war erupted in their home country in 2011, are now caught in the crossfire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military as the region braces for a potential all-out war.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, at least 31 Syrians, including two women and eight children, have been killed in Lebanon since Oct. 8, when Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia began trading fire along the Lebanese border.




Damaged buildings following an Israeli strike in the Dahiyeh suburb in Beirut on August 9, 2024. (Getty Images) 

“The irony of escaping death in Homs (in Syria) only to face it here sometimes makes me laugh,” Nour, a pharmacist who fled to Beirut with her brother and daughter in 2013, told Arab News.

“Now, not only do we have to endure the unbearable living conditions and discrimination by the authorities, but we also have to live in fear of bombs falling from above.”

Syrian refugees in Lebanon now face a cruel dilemma whether to stay and risk deportation to Syria, where conflict and persecution continue, embarking on a perilous sea journey to Europe, or risk remaining in an impoverished nation on the cusp of war.

“Tragically, we have already witnessed the loss of lives among refugees in southern Lebanon, underscoring the grave dangers they face daily,” Tania Baban, the Lebanon country director of the US-based charity MedGlobal, told Arab News.




Syrian refugees working near Lebanon’s border with Israel wait to be evacuated to a safe location, on October 13, 2023. (AFP)

On Aug. 17, an Israeli airstrike on Wadi Al-Kafour in southern Lebanon killed 10 Syrian civilians and damaged residential buildings, the AFP news agency reported. The Israeli army claimed it hit a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the Lebanese city of Nabatieh.

Baban said the armed exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah “have plunged Syrian refugees into an even more dire situation, leaving them with impossible choices.

“As the prospect of a full-scale Middle Eastern conflict looms, these refugees find themselves trapped in a perilous dilemma,” she said.

“They must choose between remaining in Lebanon and risk becoming collateral damage in an intensifying conflict, or returning to Syria, where safety is still a distant hope and not an option for most.”




Children sit by as a woman washes dishes in a plastic basin outside a tent at a makeshift camp for Syrian refugees in Talhayat in the Akkar district in north Lebanon on October 26, 2022. (AFP)

Tensions reached boiling point in recent weeks after a senior Hezbollah commander, Fouad Shokr, was killed in Beirut in late July in a suspected Israeli airstrike.

On Aug. 25, Israel carried out a “pre-emptive” wave of airstrikes across southern Lebanon as Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets and drones at Israel, marking the start of the militia’s retaliation for its slain commander.

Combined with Iran’s pledge to avenge the death of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in another suspected Israeli airstrike in Tehran on July 31, a regional war involving Israel, Iran, and several of Iran’s militia proxies, seems more likely than ever.




A Syrian refugee woman living with others in makeshift tents in south Lebanon, hugs her child after an Israeli air strike targeted the outskirt of town of Burj Al-Muluk , some 18kms from the town of Nabatiyeh on July 20, 2024. (AFP)

Although the low-level conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has been largely confined to the Israel-Lebanon border area, with southern Lebanese villages suffering the worst of the damage, Baban of MedGlobal says the escalation “is not just a localized issue.

“It’s affecting many parts of the country, with devastating effects on both Syrian refugees and Lebanese internally displaced persons, as well as other vulnerable Lebanese communities,” she said.

IN NUMBERS

  • 1.5m Syrian refugees living in Lebanon, including 815,000 registered with UNHCR.
  • 9/10 Refugee households in Lebanon who are living in extreme poverty.

With Lebanon’s economy in crisis and with insufficient means to help both Syrians and displaced Lebanese, “the potential for conflict between these groups grows, threatening to further destabilize an already fragile nation,” she added.

As Lebanon braces for the possibility of all-out war, MedGlobal is collaborating with the Lebanese Ministry of Health to establish a command and control center to coordinate and streamline response efforts across the country.

“This center is vital in ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently and that the most urgent medical needs are met with precision and speed,” she said.

MedGlobal’s efforts are currently concentrated in the West Bekaa region, “where we are providing critical medical care through a primary health care center.

“This facility is a lifeline, delivering essential health services to Syrian refugees, vulnerable Lebanese communities, and, most recently, families displaced from the southern border.”

Although many rights groups consider Syria too unsafe for the repatriation of refugees, there are areas of the country where fighting has long since ceased that could offer security not just for Syrian returnees but also for many Lebanese displaced by Israeli attacks.

Indeed, the intensifying exchanges have prompted some Lebanese families displaced from southern towns and villages to consider seeking shelter in neighboring Syria, where rents are often cheaper than in the safer parts of Lebanon.




Syrian refugees returning from Lebanon to their country through the Al-Zamrani crossing on May 14, 2024. (AFP)

For Syrian families unable to return to their home country, fearing detention or conscription, onward migration from Lebanon to Europe is viewed as the next best option. However, irregular migration is becoming increasingly difficult.

In early May, the EU announced a €1 billion ($1.1 billion) aid package partly aimed at strengthening Lebanese security services to help curb irregular migration across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

On Aug. 19, the Lebanese army said it arrested 230 Syrians who were attempting to reach Europe aboard a smuggling vessel. The military also conducted raids in the town of Bebnine and the Arida beach in northern Lebanon, where boats headed for Cyprus are often launched.




Greek fishermen rescue Syrian Kurdish refugees as the boat they had boarded sinks off the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkiye on October 30, 2015. (AFP)

Amnesty International criticized the EU-Lebanon deal, calling on world leaders to ensure funds pledged to support Syrian refugees in Lebanon “do not contribute to human rights abuses, including forcible deportations to Syria.”

The human rights monitor said the deal seems to have “emboldened Lebanese authorities to intensify their ruthless campaign targeting refugees with hateful discourse, forced deportations and stifling measures on residency and labor.”

The anti-Syrian rhetoric employed by Lebanese politicians has provoked an uptick in violence and harassment against refugees. Meanwhile, authorities have increased deportations and imposed tighter work and residency rules, leaving thousands with little choice but to leave.




A girl speaks with another as he carries a young boy while walking past tents at a makeshift camp for Syrian refugees in Talhayat in the Akkar district in north Lebanon on October 26, 2022. (AFP)

In June, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said “most Syrians” in the country would be deported, claiming that his government was “in the process of putting in place a solution” to the refugee issue.

After issuing eviction orders in June, Lebanese security forces conducted door-to-door checks in the northern villages of Btourram and Hasroun to confirm that Syrians living there without legal documentation had vacated their residences.

On Aug. 28, the Lebanese National News Agency also reported that security forces had evicted Syrians from their homes in the village of Rashkida in the northern Batroun district.

As a result, dozens of Syrian families have been left homeless, forcing them to seek refuge either with relatives in other parts of Lebanon or in makeshift camps, with serious implications for their health and well-being.




A Syrian refugee walks with her children at a refugee camp set up outside the Lebanese village of Miniara, in the northern Akkar region near the border with Syria, on May 20, 2024. (AFP)

MedGlobal’s Baban said that “while our immediate focus is on addressing these critical healthcare needs, we are acutely aware of the long-term impacts of this crisis, including the inevitable rise in mental health challenges.

“Although psychological support is not currently part of our services, we fully recognize its significance and are committed to considering a comprehensive mental health support program in our future response efforts.”

She added that the situation is becoming “increasingly untenable, and the urgency for international support and attention cannot be overstated.

“We are doing everything within our power to alleviate the suffering, but the scale of this crisis demands a coordinated global response to prevent further human tragedy.”

 


Trump administration takes first steps in easing sanctions on Syria

Trump administration takes first steps in easing sanctions on Syria
Updated 52 min 24 sec ago
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Trump administration takes first steps in easing sanctions on Syria

Trump administration takes first steps in easing sanctions on Syria

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration granted Syria sweeping exemptions from sanctions Friday in a big first step toward fulfilling the president’s pledge to lift a half-century of penalties on a country devastated by civil war.
The measures from the State and Treasury departments waived for six months a tough set of sanctions imposed by Congress in 2019 and expanded US rules for what foreign businesses can do in Syria, now led by Ahmad Al-Sharaa, a former militia commander who helped drive longtime leader Bashar Assad from power late last year.
It follows President Donald Trump’s announcement last week that the US would roll back heavy financial penalties targeting Syria’s former autocratic rulers — in a bid to give the new interim government a better chance of survival after the 13-year war.
The congressional sanctions, known as the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, aimed to isolate Syria’s previous ruling Assad family by effectively expelling those doing business with them from the global financial system.

If we engage them, it may work out, it may not work out. If we do not engage them, it was guaranteed to not work out

Marco Rubio

“These waivers will facilitate the provision of electricity, energy, water, and sanitation, and enable a more effective humanitarian response across Syria,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “The President has made clear his expectation that relief will be followed by prompt action by the Syrian government on important policy priorities.”
Syrians and their supporters have celebrated the sanctions relief but say they need them lifted permanently to secure the tens of billions of dollars in investment and business needed for reconstruction after a war that fragmented the country, displaced or killed millions of people, and left thousands of foreign fighters in the country.
The Trump administration said Friday’s announcements were “just one part of a broader US government effort to remove the full architecture of sanctions.” Those were imposed on Syria’s former rulers over the decades because of their support for Iranian-backed militias, a chemical weapons program and abuses of civilians.
A welcome US announcement in Syria
People danced in the streets of Damascus after Trump announced in Saudi Arabia last week that he would be ordering a “cessation” of sanctions against Syria.
“We’re taking them all off,” Trump said a day before meeting Al-Sharaa. “Good luck, Syria. Show us something special.”
Rubio told lawmakers this week that sanctions relief must start quickly because Syria’s transition government could be weeks from “collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions.”
But asked what sanctions relief should look like overall, Rubio gave a one-word explanation: “Incremental.”

People walk past a billboard displaying portraits of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US President Donald Trump with a slogan thanking Saudi Arabia and the United States, in Damascus. (AFP)


Syria’s interim leaders “didn’t pass their background check with the FBI,” Rubio told lawmakers. The group that Al-Sharaa led, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, was originally affiliated with Al-Qaeda, although it later renounced ties and took a more moderate tone. It is still listed by the US as a terrorist organization.
But Al-Sharaa’s government could be the best chance for rebuilding the country and avoiding a power vacuum that could allow a resurgence of the Islamic State and other extremist groups.
“If we engage them, it may work out, it may not work out. If we do not engage them, it was guaranteed to not work out,” Rubio said.
Debate within the Trump administration
While some sanctions can be quickly lifted or waived through executive actions like those taken Friday, Congress would have to permanently remove the penalties it imposed.
The congressional sanctions specifically block postwar reconstruction. Although they can be waived for 180 days by executive order, investors are likely to be wary of reconstruction projects when sanctions could be reinstated after six months.
Some Trump administration officials are pushing for relief as fast as possible without demanding tough conditions first. Others have proposed a phased approach, giving short-term waivers right away on some sanctions then tying extensions or a wider executive order to Syria meeting conditions. Doing so could substantially slow — or even permanently prevent — longer-term relief.
That would impede the interim government’s ability to attract investment and rebuild Syria after the war, critics say.
Proposals were circulating among administration officials, including one shared this week that broadly emphasized taking all the action possible, as fast as possible, to help Syria rebuild, according to a US official familiar with the plan who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.


Another proposal — from State Department staff — that circulated last week proposes a three-phase road map, starting with short-term waivers then laying out sweeping requirements for future phases of relief or permanent lifting of sanctions, the official said.
Removing “Palestinian terror groups” from Syria is first on the list of conditions to get to the second phase. Supporters of sanctions relief say that might be impossible, given the subjectivity of determining which groups meet that definition and at what point they can be declared removed.
Other conditions for moving to the second phase are for the new government to take custody of detention facilities housing Islamic State fighters and to move forward on absorbing a US-backed Kurdish force into the Syrian army.
To get to phase three, Syria would be required to join the Abraham Accords — normalized relations with Israel — and to prove that it had destroyed the previous government’s chemical weapons.
Israel has been suspicious of the new government, although Syrian officials have said publicly that they do not want a conflict with Israel. Since Assad fell, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes and seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone in Syria.


NGO calls for probe of US-backed Gaza aid group

NGO calls for probe of US-backed Gaza aid group
Updated 23 May 2025
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NGO calls for probe of US-backed Gaza aid group

NGO calls for probe of US-backed Gaza aid group

GENEVA: Swiss authorities should investigate the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial US-backed group preparing to move aid into the Gaza Strip, justice watchdog TRIAL International said on Friday.
Describing the foundation as a private security company, it said aid distribution should be left to UN organizations and humanitarian agencies.
“The dire humanitarian situation in Gaza requires an immediate response,” TRIAL International’s executive director, Philip Grant, said in a statement.
“However, the planned use of private security companies leads to a risky militarization of aid,” he added.
That, he argued, “is not justified in a context where the UN and humanitarian NGOs have the impartiality, resources, and expertise necessary to distribute this aid without delay to the civilian population.”
TRIAL International said it had filed legal submissions calling on Switzerland, where GHF is registered, to check that the group was complying with its own statutes and the Swiss legal system.

FASTFACT

Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 3,673 people had been killed in the territory since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,822, mostly civilians.

The GHF has said it will distribute some 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operation.
But the UN and traditional aid agencies have already said they will not cooperate with the group, which some have accused of working with Israel.
On Thursday, the UN cited concerns about “impartiality, neutrality, and independence.”
Aid began trickling into the Gaza Strip on Monday for the first time in more than two months, amid mounting condemnation of an Israeli blockade that has sparked severe shortages of food and medicine.
Israel launched its war on Gaza after the October 2023 attack.
On Friday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 3,673 people had been killed in the territory since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,822, mostly civilians.


UN chief says Gaza war in ‘cruelest phase’ as aid trucks looted

UN chief says Gaza war in ‘cruelest phase’ as aid trucks looted
Updated 23 May 2025
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UN chief says Gaza war in ‘cruelest phase’ as aid trucks looted

UN chief says Gaza war in ‘cruelest phase’ as aid trucks looted
  • Antonio Guterres demands Israel 'allows and facilitates humanitarian deliveries
  • World Food Programme says15 of its trucks were looted in southern Gaza

GAZA CITY: The United Nations chief said Friday that Palestinians were enduring “the cruelest phase” of the war in Gaza, where more than a dozen food trucks were looted following the partial easing of a lengthy Israeli blockade.
Aid was just beginning to trickle back into the war-torn territory after Israel announced it would allow limited shipments to resume as it pressed a newly expanded offensive aimed at destroying Hamas.
Gaza civil defense agency official Mohammed Al-Mughayyir told AFP at least 71 people were killed, while “dozens of injuries, and a large number of missing persons under the rubble have been reported as a result of Israeli air strikes” on Friday.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said “Palestinians in Gaza are enduring what may be the cruelest phase of this cruel conflict,” adding that Israel “must agree to allow and facilitate” humanitarian deliveries.
He pointed to snags, however, noting that of the nearly 400 trucks cleared to enter Gaza in recent days, only 115 were able to be collected.
“In any case, all the aid authorized until now amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” he added in a statement.
“Meanwhile, the Israeli military offensive is intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction,” he said.
The World Food Programme said Friday that 15 of its “trucks were looted late last night in southern Gaza, while en route to WFP-supported bakeries.”
“Hunger, desperation, and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming, is contributing to rising insecurity,” the UN body said in a statement, calling on Israeli authorities “to get far greater volumes of food assistance into Gaza faster.”
Aid shipments to the Gaza Strip restarted on Monday for the first time since March 2, amid mounting condemnation of the Israeli blockade, which has resulted in severe shortages of food and medicine.
“I appeal to people of conscience to send us fresh water and food,” said Sobhi Ghattas, a displaced Palestinian sheltering at the port in Gaza City.
“My daughter has been asking for bread since this morning, and we have none to give her.”
COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body that oversees civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, said that 107 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza on Thursday.
But Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Friday that the UN had brought in 500 to 600 per day on average during a six-week ceasefire that broke down in March.
“No one should be surprised let alone shocked at scenes of precious aid looted, stolen or ‘lost’,” he said on X, adding that “the people of Gaza have been starved” for more than 11 weeks.
The Israeli military said that over the past day, its forces had attacked “military compounds, weapons storage facilities and sniper posts” in Gaza.
“In addition, the (air force) struck over 75 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip,” it added.
The military said on Friday afternoon that air raid sirens were activated in communities near Gaza, later reporting that “a projectile that crossed into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip was intercepted” by the air force.
In Gaza’s north, Al-Awda hospital reported Friday that three of its staff were injured “after Israeli quadcopter drones dropped bombs” on the facility.
The civil defense agency later said it had successfully contained a fire at the hospital.
An AFP journalist saw large plumes of smoke billowing above destroyed buildings in southern Gaza after Israeli bombardments.
“Have mercy on us,” said a distraught Youssef Al-Najjar, whose relatives were killed in an air strike in the main southern city of Khan Yunis.
“We are exhausted from the displacement and the hunger — enough!“
Israel resumed operations in Gaza on March 18, ending the ceasefire that began on January 19.
On Friday, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 3,673 people had been killed in the territory since then, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,822, mostly civilians.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.


Netanyahu accuses France, Britain and Canada of ‘emboldening’ Hamas

Netanyahu accuses France, Britain and Canada of ‘emboldening’ Hamas
Updated 23 May 2025
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Netanyahu accuses France, Britain and Canada of ‘emboldening’ Hamas

Netanyahu accuses France, Britain and Canada of ‘emboldening’ Hamas
  • France dismisses Israeli leader's accusations and said there needs to be a lasting peace solution for Israel and and Palestine
  • Israel fears more European countries will officially recognize a Palestinian state

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the leaders of France, Britain and Canada of wanting to help the Palestinian militant group Hamas after they threatened to take “concrete action” if Israel did not stop its latest offensive in Gaza.

The criticism, echoing similar remarks from Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Thursday, was part of a fightback by the Israeli government against the increasingly heavy international pressure on it over the war in Gaza.

“You’re on the wrong side of humanity and you’re on the wrong side of history,” Netanyahu said.

The Israeli leader, facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Gaza, has regularly criticized European countries as well as global institutions from the United Nations to the International Court of Justice over what he says is their bias against Israel.

But as the flow of images of destruction and hunger in Gaza has continued, fueling protests in countries around the world, Israel has struggled to turn international opinion, which has increasingly shifted against it.

“It’s hard to convince at least some people, definitely on the far left in the US and in some countries in Europe, that what Israel is doing is a war of defense,” said former Israeli diplomat Yaki Dayan.

“But this is how it is perceived in Israel and bridging this gap is sometimes an impossible mission,” he said.

Israeli officials have been particularly concerned about growing calls for other countries in Europe to follow the example of Spain and Ireland in recognizing a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution to resolve decades of conflict in the region.

Netanyahu argues that a Palestinian state would threaten Israel and he has framed the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington on Tuesday by a man who allegedly shouted “Free Palestine” as a clear example of that threat.

He said “exactly the same chant” was heard during the attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

“They don’t want a Palestinian state. They want to destroy the Jewish state,” he said in a statement on the social media platform X.

“I could never understand how this simple truth evades the leaders of France, Britain, Canada and others,” he said, adding that any moves by Western countries to recognize a Palestinian state would “reward these murderers with the ultimate prize.”

Instead of advancing peace, the three leaders were “emboldening Hamas to continue fighting forever,” he said.

The Israeli leader, whose government depends on far-right support, said Hamas, which issued a statement welcoming the move, had thanked French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canada’s Mark Carney over what he said was their demand for an immediate end to the war.

The leaders’ statement on Monday did not demand an immediate end to the war, but a halt to Israel’s new military offensive on Gaza and a lifting of its restrictions on humanitarian aid. Israel had prevented aid from entering Gaza since March, before relaxing its blockade this week.

“By issuing their demand – replete with a threat of sanctions against Israel, against Israel, not Hamas – these three leaders effectively said they want Hamas to remain in power,” Netanyahu said.

“And they give them hope to establish a second Palestinian state from which Hamas will again seek to destroy the Jewish state.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said France, which like Britain and Canada designates Hamas as a terrorist organization, was “unwaveringly committed to Israel’s security” but he said it was “absurd and slanderous” to accuse supporters of a two-state solution of encouraging antisemitism or Hamas.

French government spokesperson Sophie Primas said France did not accept Netanyahu’s accusations, adding: “We need to de-escalate this rising tension between our two states and work to find lasting peace solutions, for Israel and for Palestine.”

Asked about Netanyahu’s remarks, Britain’s armed forces minister Luke Pollard said London stood with Israel in their right to self-defense. “But that self-defense must be conducted within the bounds of international humanitarian law,” he said.

“At this moment, we stand fast against terrorism, but we also want to make sure that the aid is getting into Gaza,” Pollard told Times Radio.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza was launched in retaliation for the October 7, 2023 attack, which killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken as hostage into Gaza. It has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians and devastated the enclave, where wide areas have been reduced to rubble.


Lebanese army to begin disarming Palestinians in Beirut camps in mid-June

Lebanese army to begin disarming Palestinians in Beirut camps in mid-June
Updated 23 May 2025
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Lebanese army to begin disarming Palestinians in Beirut camps in mid-June

Lebanese army to begin disarming Palestinians in Beirut camps in mid-June
  • The Lebanese and Palestinian sides agreed on starting a plan “to remove weapons from the camps, beginning mid-June,” the source told AFP
  • By longstanding convention, the Lebanese army stays out of the Palestinian camps

BEIRUT: The joint Lebanese-Palestinian committee, which convened on Friday in the presence of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam of Lebanon, agreed to begin implementing the directives outlined in the joint statement issued by the Lebanese-Palestinian summit held on Wednesday in Beirut, in terms of restricting weapons to the hands of the Lebanese state.

A source in Salam’s office told Arab News: “June 16 will mark the beginning of the Lebanese army’s deployment to Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, namely Shatila, Mar Elias and Burj Al-Barajneh camps, to take control of the Palestinian factions’ weapons.

“This will involve Lebanese army patrols inside these camps, followed by subsequent phases targeting camps in the Bekaa, northern Lebanon and south, particularly Ain Al-Hilweh, the largest, most densely populated and factionally diverse Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, encompassing factions affiliated or non-affiliated with the liberation organization.

The source said the “implementation date will be communicated to all Palestinian factions, including Hamas,” and that “the factions will convene to agree on the mechanism, and that pressure will be applied to any group that refuses to relinquish its weapons.”

Addressing Hamas’s earlier stance linking the surrender of its weapons to that of Hezbollah, the source said “there is no connection between the two issues. Once the disarmament process begins, neither Hamas nor any other faction will be able to obstruct or impede it.”

The source said that Arab and regional actors are actively supporting Lebanon in facilitating the disarmament process.

Salam welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to “resolve the issue of Palestinian weapons in the camps,” noting the “positive impact of this decision in strengthening Lebanese-Palestinian relations and improving the humanitarian and socio-economic conditions of Palestinian refugees.”

He affirmed Lebanon’s “adherence to its national principles.”

Salam called for “the swift implementation of practical steps through a clear execution mechanism and a defined timeline.”

According to a statement, both sides agreed “to launch a process to hand over weapons based on a set timetable, accompanied by practical steps to enhance the economic and social rights of Palestinian refugees, and to intensify joint meetings and coordination to put in place the necessary arrangements to immediately begin implementing these directives.”

A statement issued after talks between Abbas and Joseph Aoun, Lebanon’s president, reaffirmed “their commitment to the principle that weapons must be exclusively in the hands of the Lebanese state, to end any manifestations that contradict the logic of the Lebanese state, and the importance of respecting Lebanon’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.”

Since the Nakba — the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, and the suppression of their political rights — Lebanon has had 12 Palestinian refugee camps.

According to the Population and Housing Census in the Palestinian Camps and Gatherings in Lebanon, 72.8 percent of Palestinians in the camps face dire living conditions. The rest are Syrians, Lebanese, and other foreigners, the majority of whom are foreign workers.

Abbas, during his visit, reiterated that “the refugee camps are under the sovereignty of the Lebanese state and the Lebanese army, and the presence of weapons in the camps outside the state’s authority weakens Lebanon. Any weapon that is not under the command of the state is weakening Lebanon and endangering the Palestinian cause.”

Hisham Debsi, director of the Tatweer Center for Strategic Studies and Human Development and a Palestinian researcher, characterized the Lebanese-Palestinian joint statement as “a foundational document that functions as a political, ethical, and sovereign framework. Opposition to its declared positions would be tantamount to rejecting the Lebanese government’s oath of office and ministerial declaration.”

Debsi said: “The joint statement has blocked any potential maneuvering by Hamas to retain its weapons, since the declaration provides the Lebanese state with complete Palestinian legitimacy to remove protection from any armed Palestinian individual. Abu Mazen (Abbas) has reinforced this position repeatedly throughout his Beirut meetings.”

In his assessment, “no faction can now challenge both Lebanese and Palestinian authority given this unified stance.”

Debsi highlighted “a fundamental division within Hamas’s Lebanon branch, with one camp advocating transformation into a political party with the other supporting maintaining ties to Iranian-backed groups.”

He added: “Those opposing Hamas disarmament will face political and security consequences, particularly as camp residents seek to restructure their communities beyond armed resistance, which has become obsolete and must evolve into peaceful advocacy.”