Lebanon on Saturday launched the fourth stage of its plan to collect weapons from Palestinian refugee camps, local media reported. The Lebanese army began receiving arms from the Beddawi camp in the north and Ain al-Hilweh camp near the southern city of Sidon, according to An-Nahar daily. Security measures were reinforced around the camps during the process. Earlier stages of the initiative saw the collection of weapons from Burj al-Barajneh in Beirut's southern suburbs on Aug. 21; Rashidieh, Al-Buss, and Burj al-Shamali near Tyre on Aug. 28; and Burj al-Barajneh, Mar Elias, and Shatila on Aug. 29. The campaign follows a Cabinet decision last month to restrict all arms, including those held by Hezbollah, to the state. The army was directed to draft a plan by the end of August and implement it before the close of 2025. Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has said the group will not surrender its weapons unless Israel fully withdraws from occupied Lebanese territory, halts its attacks, releases prisoners, and reconstruction begins. A ceasefire was reached in November 2024 after months of cross-border fighting and a full-scale war in September of that year. Under the truce, Israel was expected to withdraw fully from southern Lebanon by January, but it maintains a presence at five border outposts. Lebanon is home to more than 493,000 Palestinian refugees, most living under difficult conditions in camps managed by Palestinian factions under informal arrangements dating back to the 1969 Cairo Agreement. While the army does not enter the camps, it enforces strict security measures around them. — Agencies
