BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas met in Beirut on Wednesday and backed placing all weapons under Lebanese state control, as they discussed efforts to disarm armed groups in Palestinian refugee camps.
A joint statement from the Lebanese presidency said the two leaders shared the “belief that the era of weapons outside Lebanese state control has ended” and backed the principle that arms should be held exclusively by the state.
Abbas’s three-day trip is his first to Lebanon since 2017.
The country hosts about 222,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations agency UNRWA, many living in overcrowded camps beyond state control.
A Lebanese government source said Abbas’s visit aimed to set up a mechanism to remove weapons from the camps. The source requested anonymity as they were not allowed to brief the media.
The statement said the two sides agreed “to form a joint Lebanese-Palestinian committee to follow up on the situation of Palestinian camps in Lebanon and work on improving the living conditions of refugees, while respecting Lebanese sovereignty and committing to Lebanese laws.”
By longstanding convention, the Lebanese army stays out of the Palestinian camps, where Abbas’s Fatah, its rival Hamas and other armed groups handle security.
Hamas claimed attacks on Israel from Lebanon during more than a year of hostilities involving its Lebanese ally Hezbollah. The clashes, sparked by the Gaza war, largely subsided after a truce in November.
“The monopoly of weapons should be in the hands of the state,” Aoun said in an interview with Egyptian channel ON TV on Sunday.
The army, he added, had dismantled six Palestinian military training camps — three in Bekaa, one south of Beirut and two in the north — and seized weapons.
Under the November ceasefire agreement, the army has also been dismantling militant group Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the country’s south.
Ahmad Majdalani, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization official accompanying Abbas, said the visit came as Lebanon entered “a new era” in which it is receiving “Arab and American support.”
“What matters to us in this new regional context is that we do not become part of Lebanon’s internal conflicts,” he said, “and that the Palestinian cause is not exploited to serve any party.”
Ali Barakeh, a senior Hamas official in Lebanon, said he hoped Abbas’s talks would take a broader approach than just weapons and security.
“We affirm our respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty, security and stability, and at the same time we demand the provision of civil and human rights for our Palestinian people in Lebanon,” he said.
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are mostly descendants of those who fled or were expelled from their land during the creation of Israel in 1948.
They face a variety of legal restrictions including on employment.
Abbas, Aoun back arms under Lebanese state control
https://arab.news/mhthq
Abbas, Aoun back arms under Lebanese state control
- The country hosts about 222,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations agency UNRWA
- Lebanese government source said Abbas’s visit aimed to set up a mechanism to remove weapons from the camps
Spain highlights importance of Gaza reconstruction
- Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian prime minister, Mohammed Mustafa, and the Spanish foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, on Friday discussed the latest developments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
During their telephone conversation they emphasized the need to intensify international efforts to end the Israeli occupation and halt attacks and settler violence, and to secure the release of Palestinian funds held by Israeli authorities.
They affirmed the importance of ongoing efforts relating to plans for the reconstruction of Gaza, and Europe’s significant role in this process. Mustafa and Albares highlighted the need to unify Palestinian institutions in Gaza with those in the West Bank, with the aim of establishing a Palestinian state in line with international resolutions, including last year’s New York Declaration.
They also discussed coordination between their countries, and the strengthening of Spain’s political, diplomatic and financial support for Palestine, and Mustafa thanked Spain for its ongoing support.
Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway. Estephan Salameh, the Palestinian finance and planning minister, is set to visit Spain this month to discuss enhanced cooperation, particularly in the areas of development and reconstruction. Meanwhile, Israel continues operating in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Prisoners media office said on Friday that Israel carried out numerous raids across the territory, including the major cities of Ramallah and Hebron, according to The Associated Press.
Nearly 50 people were detained, following the arrest of at least 50 other Palestinians on Thursday, most of those in the Ramallah area.
As 2026 begins, the shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
But Palestinians are still being killed by Israeli fire, especially along the so-called Yellow Line that delineates areas under Israeli control, and the humanitarian crisis is compounded by frequent winter rains and colder temperatures.
On Friday, American actor and film producer Angelina Jolie visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
The only crossing between the territory and a country other than Israel, it remains closed despite Palestinian requests to reopen it to people and aid.
Jolie met with members of the Red Crescent on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing and then visited a hospital in the nearby city of Arish to speak with Palestinian patients on Friday, according to Egyptian officials.
Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are getting into Gaza during the truce.
