The Palestinian “Fatah” movement announced, on Thursday morning, the handover of a new batch of its weapons to the Lebanese army at the entrance to the Rashidiya camp in the city of Tire, southern Lebanon, a week after the start of the first phase of the Burj Al -Barajneh camp in Beirut.
Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaina said that the Palestinian authorities handed over the second batch of the PLO weapon in the Lebanese camps, noting that the camps that were included in the operation are Rashidiya, Al -Bass, and the Northern Tower in Tire, provided that the delivery operations continue in the rest of the camps later.
The National Media Agency in Lebanon confirmed the exit of seven trucks loaded with light weapons and missile missiles from the three camps and entered a barrack for the Lebanese army.
The first stage of the operation
The first stage of the delivery process was launched last week from the Burj Al -Barajneh camp in Beirut. Sources said that “Fatah” had already handed over its weapons in the camp to the Lebanese army as part of the end of the phenomenon of weapons in the Palestinian camps.
The head of the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee, Ramiz Damascus, explained that this process represents the first step in implementing the agreements, stressing that other batches will be completed during the coming weeks in various camps.
The background of the agreement
This step comes within the framework of implementing the decisions of the Lebanese Palestinian Summit held last May between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The summit affirmed Lebanon’s full sovereignty over its lands and the application of the principle of exclusive weapons in the hands of the state.
The Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee also approved, during a meeting in May, an executive mechanism and a timetable for addressing the weapon file inside the camps.
Palestinian camps in Lebanon
Palestinian camps are spread in various regions of Lebanon, including Shatila, Burj Al -Barajneh, Mar Elias in Beirut, Ain El -Hilweh, Miyah and Miyah in Sidon in the south, in addition to the Rashidiya camps, Bus and Burj Al -Shamali near Tire.
In the north, there is a Nahr Al -Bared and Beddawi camp near Tripoli, while in the Bekaa there is the Galilee camp and smaller camps.
Exclusive weapon in the hands of the Lebanese state
Last May, the Lebanese and Palestinian Presidents issued a joint statement in which he stressed the need to end the aspects of weapons outside the state, and to ensure that the Palestinian camps are not turned into safe havens for extremists.
The two sides also stressed the strengthening of cooperation in combating terrorism and extremism, and for respecting Lebanon’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. The statement stated that “the time of the weapon outside the authority of the Lebanese state has ended,” in reference to a new stage of controlling the security situation inside the camps.
