On September 13, 2025, the landscape of Lebanon’s long-standing security dilemma shifted dramatically as Palestinian factions in two major refugee camps handed over truckloads of weapons to the Lebanese army. The operation, described by many as both historic and fraught with complexity, marks the most significant step yet in Beirut’s drive to bring all arms under state control and reshape the country’s delicate balance of power.
The heart of this disarmament process lay in Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest and most notorious Palestinian refugee camp, located just outside the southern city of Sidon. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, the Lebanese state and the Palestinian Authority orchestrated the removal of weapons from Ain al-Hilweh in a highly sensitive and discreet manner. The move was part of a broader operation launched by the Lebanese army to disarm all Palestinian camps in the country—a task made even more challenging by Ain al-Hilweh’s size and its reputation as a haven for wanted individuals of various nationalities.
A Palestinian source inside the camp told Asharq Al-Awsat that the weapons were gathered in the Jabal al-Halib area before being handed over to the Lebanese army. "The operation was carried out away from the spotlight," the source said, referencing the heated accusations of betrayal circulating on social media. These accusations, largely fueled by affiliates of Islamic factions, underscored the deep divisions within the camp. Some residents supported the handover of heavy weapons and the regulation of light arms, while others remained fiercely opposed to any form of disarmament.
The Lebanese army confirmed in a statement that it had received five truckloads of weapons from Ain al-Hilweh and three more from the Beddawi camp near Tripoli in the north. “The delivery included various types of weapons, shells, and ammunition,” the army said, as reported by The Times of Israel and corroborated by AFP journalists on the ground. Army vehicles surrounded the camps during the operation, ensuring that no one could approach the convoys as they departed.
This handover was not an isolated event. It was the latest in a series of coordinated moves stemming from a landmark agreement reached in May 2025 between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Both leaders agreed that only the Lebanese state should bear arms within its borders—a principle that, until now, had been more aspirational than actionable. The process of collecting weapons from Palestinian camps around Beirut and southern Lebanon began in late August, with the Ain al-Hilweh and Beddawi operations representing the most substantial haul yet.
For many in Lebanon, especially those living near the camps, the sight of covered trucks escorted by Lebanese soldiers was both a relief and a source of anxiety. The camps have long existed outside the state’s direct control, with the Lebanese army traditionally staying out and leaving security matters to the Palestinian factions themselves. According to the United Nations agency UNRWA, Lebanon hosts about 222,000 Palestinian refugees, most of whom live in overcrowded camps where the rule of law is often tenuous at best.
The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, a body affiliated with the prime minister’s office, has been overseeing the arms transfer process. In a statement, the committee announced it was “continuing its meetings with various Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad,” as part of its commitment to extending Lebanese sovereignty over all its territory. Hamas sources, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, revealed that a meeting with the committee was planned in the coming days to discuss the weapons handover and related issues. They stressed that “Palestinian weapons in Lebanon carry more than just military significance—they are symbolic. This symbolism is linked to the Palestinians' right of return and the continuation of armed struggle against the Zionist enemy until a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause is achieved.”
Yet, not all factions are on board. While the PLO and its umbrella groups have begun the process of disarmament, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad—neither of which are part of the PLO—have not announced any plans to hand over their weapons in Lebanon. According to The Times of Israel, this schism has complicated efforts to unify the stance of Palestinian groups within the camps. The main obstacle, as reported by Asharq Al-Awsat, remains the issue of wanted individuals and the mechanism for dealing with them.
The context for this disarmament drive is deeply intertwined with recent regional turmoil. The past year saw an escalation in violence following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel, which left over a thousand dead and hundreds taken hostage. The conflict quickly spilled over into Lebanon, with Hezbollah launching rockets at northern Israel in support of Hamas, leading to a year-long war that ended in a fragile ceasefire by late November 2024. During these hostilities, armed Palestinian groups in Lebanon, including Hamas, fired rockets toward Israel from within the camps. Israeli air strikes, in turn, targeted locations such as the Beddawi camp, killing a Hamas commander and his family.
Hezbollah, for its part, has sharply criticized the Lebanese government’s disarmament push. The Iran-backed group, which suffered substantial losses in the recent war—including the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah—has maintained that its weapons are essential for both liberating territory still occupied by Israel and deterring future threats. According to Middle East Eye, Hezbollah has described the disarmament efforts as a “surrender” to Israel, especially given the heavy U.S. pressure behind Beirut’s new policy.
Lebanon’s broader disarmament plan, as outlined by Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi and reported by AFP, envisions the complete disarmament of the border area with Israel within three months. This is the first of five phases designed to ensure that all weapons in the country are under the exclusive control of the Lebanese army. The government’s ultimate goal is to monopolize the use of force—a vision that, if realized, would mark a profound transformation for Lebanon’s fractured political and security order.
Still, the road ahead is anything but straightforward. The symbolism of Palestinian arms, the divisions among factions, the legacy of past violence, and the unresolved status of thousands of camp residents all pose formidable challenges. As Abdel Hadi al-Asadi, spokesman for the Palestinian National Security Forces in Lebanon, put it, the operation involved “delivering new batches of weapons”—a phrase that, while technical, hints at the piecemeal and ongoing nature of the process.
Whether this latest handover signals the beginning of a new era for Lebanon’s Palestinian camps—or merely a temporary pause in a decades-long struggle—remains to be seen. For now, the trucks have rolled out, the weapons have changed hands, and the future of Lebanon’s security hangs in the balance.
