The Lebanese Army begins receiving the weapons of Palestinian factions in the Burj al-Barajneh camp.

The Lebanese army began, on Thursday, the process of receiving weapons from Palestinian factions inside the Burj al-Barajneh camp located in the southern suburbs of Beirut, as part of implementing the Lebanese government's decision to confine weapons to the state. This step comes after the Lebanese Cabinet's decision on August 5, which approved the restriction of weapons, including those of Palestinian factions and "Hezbollah," to the state.

In this context, the Lebanese army was tasked with developing a plan to implement this decision during this month, with the aim of completing this process before the end of 2025. This decision was met with rejection from Hezbollah, which warned that this step could lead to a "civil war."

Two days after the decision, the Lebanese government announced its support for the proposed steps in the "American paper," which includes confining weapons to the state and deploying the Lebanese army in the south. This support came after the visit of American envoy Thomas Barak to Beirut last month.

An Anadolu Agency correspondent reported that military vehicles belonging to the Lebanese army, accompanied by intelligence personnel, entered the camp and began the process of receiving weapons from the Palestinian factions. A small truck carrying weapons was seen, while the Palestinian national security official affiliated with the "Fatah" movement, Major General Sobhi Abu Arab, confirmed their commitment to any decision issued by the political leadership.

For its part, the Lebanese National News Agency reported that army personnel began implementing the first phase of the government's decision to withdraw Palestinian weapons from the camps, starting with the Burj al-Barajneh camp. Two small trucks were brought into the camp to transport covered weapons, without mentioning details about the type of those weapons.

The operation took place in a calm and smooth atmosphere, where a number of camp residents and members of the Palestinian factions gathered to observe the transfer of weapons, with no objections or issues reported. The army closed the entrances to the camp and the roads leading to it with military vehicles, awaiting the completion of the weapons transfer operations.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the start of the process of handing over Palestinian weapons, indicating that it is a step towards stability. Barak also welcomed the step, considering it a great achievement towards unity and stability.

In a statement, the spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, confirmed that the State of Palestine agreed with the Lebanese state to begin handing over the weapons present inside the Palestinian camps to the Lebanese army. The first batch of weapons was handed over from the Burj al-Barajneh and al-Bass camps to the Lebanese army.

The head of the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee, Ambassador Ramzi Damshek, announced that the first phase of handing over weapons from the Palestinian camps began today, with the first batch being delivered to the Lebanese army. He confirmed that this process will continue with the delivery of additional batches in the coming weeks.

More than 493,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon under difficult conditions inside camps that are managed security-wise by Palestinian factions, based on informal understandings dating back to the Cairo Agreement of 1969. The Lebanese army does not enter the camps, while imposing strict measures around them.