Lebanese Armed Forces collect new batch of weapons from Palestinian camps near Tyre

LEBANON — On Thursday morning, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), received a major cache of weapons from Palestinian camps in the south of the country, near the city of Tyre.

The collection process began on 21 August in Burj al-Barajneh, Beirut, where Kalashnikov rifles were handed over outside Fatah’s local headquarters. Thursday’s handovers included heavier weaponry — such as landmines and rockets — from the southern Palestinian camps of Burj al-Shamali, al-Buss, and Rashidieh.

The surrender of weapons by Fatah follows an agreement between the Palestinian Authority, dominated by Fatah, and the Lebanese government. The initiative is part of a broader campaign to consolidate all weapons under the authority of the Lebanese state.

Palestinians in Lebanon, originally spread across a dozen refugee camps, once waged their armed struggle against Israel from Lebanese territory. Their decades-long presence, spearheaded by the Palestine Liberation Organization, has had a lasting impact on the country’s demographic, economic, and political stability.