The process that began after Palestinian President Abbas visited said weapons had “harmed” the causes of Lebanon and Palestinians.
The joint Lebanese and Palestinian committee, tasked with removing weapons held by Palestinians in Lebanese refugee camps, met for the first time to have a timetable to disarm the group.
The Lebanon-Palestine Dialogue Committee, a government agency serving as an interlocutor between Palestinian refugees and officials, attended with Lebanon Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Friday.
The group said, “Participants agreed to commence the process of disarmament of weapons according to a specific timetable.”
It also aims to take measures to “strengthen the economic and social rights of Palestinian refugees.”
A source from the Lebanese government told news agency AFP to disarmament the 12 official camps of Palestinian refugees hosting multiple Palestinian facts, including Fatah, its rival Hamas, Palestinian Islamic jihad and various other groups.
Under the agreement decades ago, Lebanese authorities do not control camps where security is controlled by Palestinian factions.
The conference is facing international pressure to remove weapons from Hezbollah, a Lebanese armed group that lined up in Iran, where the Lebanese government fought the war with Israel last year.
“The message is clear. There is a new era, a new balance of power, and a new Lebanon leadership. This advances in monopolizing the arms of the nation’s hands,” said Zeina Khodr of Al Jazeera, reporting from Beirut.
“We are beginning to dismantle the military infrastructure of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and the next step appears to be disarmament of Palestinian groups in camps before addressing the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons in the rest of the country,” she said.
Earlier this week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas – leader of the Palestinian Liberation Agency, ruled by the Fatah party, visited Lebanon, saying that the camp’s weapons would “harm the Lebanese and the Palestinian cause.”
During Abbas’ visit, he and Lebanese President Joseph Aung announced an agreement that the Palestinians will not use Lebanon as a launchpad for any attack on Israel, and that the arms will be integrated under the powers of the Lebanese government.
The Al Jazeera cordle shows that several factions appear to be against disarming.
“The Palestinian authority of Abbas may be recognized internationally as a representative body of the Palestinian people, but many armed groups, including Hamas and [Palestinian] Islamic jihad … believes in an armed struggle with Israel,” she said.
“Without consensus among factions, stability could remain elusive.”
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