The Lebanese Army on Thursday received a new batch of weapons from Palestinian camps in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee announced, as part of a process launched on August 21.
اضافة اعلان
This continuation of the handover of Palestinian camp weapons follows the Lebanese government’s August 5 decision tasking the army with devising a plan to disarm Hezbollah, which suffered heavy losses in its recent war with Israel, with the plan to be implemented before the end of the year.
In a statement released by the Lebanese Prime Minister’s office, the Dialogue Committee said that “batches of heavy weapons belonging to factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the Rashidieh, Burj al-Shamali, and al-Buss camps were handed over to the Lebanese Army, which has taken custody of them.”
The statement added that the operation included “eight trucks: six from Rashidieh, one from al-Buss, and one from Burj al-Shamali.”
It further noted that “the remaining stages” of the process would be completed “in the other camps according to the agreed plan.”
Fatah is the largest faction within the PLO, which does not include Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
At a Lebanese army barracks in the city of Tyre, an AFP photographer saw at least seven trucks loaded with weapons in preparation for delivery.
For his part, Palestinian presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in remarks carried by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA that “the competent Palestinian authorities in Lebanon handed over the second batch of PLO weapons from the Palestinian camps—Rashidieh, al-Buss, and Burj al-Shamali—to the Lebanese Army as custodians.”
He added that this step was taken “based on the presidential statement issued by President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas and Lebanese President General Joseph Aoun” during Abbas’s visit to Lebanon in May.
The process of handing over Palestinian camp weapons began on August 21, with the army receiving weapons from the Burj al-Barajneh camp in southern Beirut, as part of the first phase of the plan agreed upon by both sides.
Weapons held by Palestinian factions were a major factor in sparking the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990).
Under an implicit agreement, Palestinian factions maintain security inside the camps, where the Lebanese Army refrains from entering.
The Palestinian Authority does not control the decisions of all armed Palestinian factions in Lebanon’s camps, most notably Hamas.
(AFP)
