AIN HILWEH: 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 Organisation (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. A 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, a 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, with many living in overcrowded camps outside of the state’s control.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2025