AIN AL-HILWEH, Lebanon: Palestinian factions handed over weapons from Lebanon’s largest refugee camp on Saturday, a Palestinian official said, as part of a push by the government to disarm non-state groups.
Abdel Hadi Al-Asadi, of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said the umbrella group conducted “the operation of delivering new batches of weapons.”
The Lebanese army confirmed that it received “five truckloads of weapons from the Ain Al-Hilweh camp in Sidon,” the largest in Lebanon, and “three trucks from the Beddawi camp in Tripoli.”
“The delivery included various types of weapons, shells, and ammunition,” the army said in a statement.
An AFP journalist near Ain Al-Hilweh reported Lebanese army vehicles posted around the camp, preventing anyone from approaching.
The densely-populated Beddawi camp, near the northern city of Tripoli, was hit last year by Israeli strikes that killed a Hamas commander, his wife and two daughters, according to the Palestinian militant group.
In Beddawi, an AFP journalist saw three covered trucks leaving the camp, with Lebanese army vehicles waiting for them outside.
Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad, both not part of the PLO which has begun handing over weapons, have not announced plans to disarm in Lebanon.
Lebanon hosts about 222,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations agency UNRWA, with many living in overcrowded camps outside of the state’s control.
During a visit to Beirut in May, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas agreed with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that weapons in Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps would be handed over to the Lebanese authorities.
The process began last month, when the army received weapons from camps around Beirut and southern Lebanon.
During a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah that largely ended with a November ceasefire, Palestinian groups including Hamas claimed rocket fire toward Israel.
The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, a body affiliated with the Lebanese prime minister’s office that is overseeing the arms transfer process, announced in a statement that it is continuing its “meetings with various Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.”
It said the discussions were part of its “commitment to extending its sovereignty over all its territory.”
By longstanding convention, the Lebanese army stays out of the Palestinian camps and leaves Palestinian factions to handle security.
Lebanon’s disarmament push has been rejected by Hezbollah, which was the country’s most powerful political force before being severely weakened by the war with Israel.
Beirut’s plan entails the complete disarmament of the border area with Israel within three months, in the first of five phases to monopolize weapons with the army, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi told AFP last week.
Palestinian factions hand over weapons in largest Lebanon refugee camp
https://arab.news/jhgru
Palestinian factions hand over weapons in largest Lebanon refugee camp
- Abdel Hadi Al-Asadi, of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the umbrella group conducted “the operation of delivering new batches of weapons“
- The Lebanese army confirmed that it received “five truckloads of weapons from the Ain Al-Hilweh camp in Sidon“
Trump warns Iran of ‘very traumatic’ outcome if no nuclear deal
- Speaking a day after he hosted Netanyahu at the White House, Trump said he hoped for a result “over the next month”
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump threatened Iran Thursday with “very traumatic” consequences if it fails to make a nuclear deal — but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was skeptical about the quality of any such agreement.
Speaking a day after he hosted Netanyahu at the White House, Trump said he hoped for a result “over the next month” from Washington’s negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program.
“We have to make a deal, otherwise it’s going to be very traumatic, very traumatic. I don’t want that to happen, but we have to make a deal,” Trump told reporters.
“This will be very traumatic for Iran if they don’t make a deal.”
Trump — who is considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to pressure Iran — recalled the US military strikes he ordered on Tehran’s nuclear facilities during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in July last year.
“We’ll see if we can get a deal with them, and if we can’t, we’ll have to go to phase two. Phase two will be very tough for them,” Trump said.
Netanyahu had traveled to Washington to push Trump to take a harder line in the Iran nuclear talks, particularly on including the Islamic Republic’s arsenal of ballistic missiles.
But the Israeli and US leaders apparently remained at odds, with Trump saying after their meeting at the White House on Wednesday that he had insisted the negotiations should continue.
- ‘General skepticism’ -
Netanyahu said in Washington on Thursday before departing for Israel that Trump believed he was laying the ground for a deal.
“He believes that the conditions he is creating, combined with the fact that they surely understand they made a mistake last time when they didn’t reach an agreement, may create the conditions for achieving a good deal,” Netanyahu said, according to a video statement from his office.
But the Israeli premier added: “I will not hide from you that I expressed general skepticism regarding the quality of any agreement with Iran.”
Any deal “must include the elements that are very important from our perspective,” Netanyahu continued, listing Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for armed groups such as the Palestinian movement Hamas, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“It’s not just the nuclear issue,” he said.
Despite their differences on Iran, Trump signaled his strong personal support for Netanyahu as he criticized Israeli President Isaac Herzog for rejecting his request to pardon the prime minister on corruption charges.
“You have a president that refuses to give him a pardon. I think that man should be ashamed of himself,” Trump said on Thursday.
Trump has repeatedly hinted at potential US military action against Iran following its deadly crackdown on protests last month, even as Washington and Tehran restarted talks last week with a meeting in Oman.
The last round of talks between the two foes was cut short by Israel’s war with Iran and the US strikes.
So far, Iran has rejected expanding the new talks beyond the issue of its nuclear program. Tehran denies seeking a nuclear weapon, and has said it will not give in to “excessive demands” on the subject.
