As the Lebanese army presses ahead with efforts to seize weapons inside Palestinian refugee camps across the country, a key question remains unresolved: what will become of Hamas’s arsenal in Lebanon, as the group continues to defy a government decision and a Lebanese-Palestinian agreement requiring it to hand over its arms.
Official Lebanese frustration with Hamas and allied factions has reached unprecedented levels, driven by their refusal to hand over medium and heavy weapons located south of the Litani River, specifically in the Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp.
The deadline set by the Lebanese army to complete the first phase of the government’s decision to impose state monopoly over arms, which covers the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border, expires at the end of 2025.
The government is expected to announce during a meeting in early 2026 the completion of the first phase and the move to implement the second one, in an effort to head off Israeli threats to launch a new round of war to counter what Israel describes as attempts by Hezbollah to rebuild its military capabilities.
The hardline stance taken by Hamas and other factions has raised questions, particularly as Hezbollah has complied and handed over its weapons south of the Litani. This has heightened concerns over the safety and stability of the Rashidieh camp if Israel decides to target weapons believed to include medium and heavy arms stored inside it.
External mediation efforts
A senior official told Asharq Al-Awsat that Lebanon has sought external mediation to address the issue of Hamas’s weapons, and that these countries have exerted pressure on the group, so far without success.
Sources following the file said that Fatah’s handover on Tuesday of a new batch of weapons from the Ain al-Hilweh camp was a renewed attempt to pressure Hamas into surrendering its arms.
Head of the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee Ambassador Ramez Dimashkieh openly expressed official Lebanese dissatisfaction with Hamas and allied factions and with their handling of the issue.
“As long as these factions declare that they operate under the authority of the Lebanese state, they are supposed to abide by the state’s decisions, not resort to stalling by linking the handover to the issue of rights,” Dimashkieh told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“We know there are rights and demands, and we are working seriously on this file, but we reject any bargaining between one file and another.”
He said there was no benefit in holding broad meetings with the factions, stressing that Hamas and its allies should instead contact the Lebanese army directly to set dates for handing over weapons, just as the Palestine Liberation Organization factions have done.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other allied factions reject the decisions of the Lebanese Palestinian summit that was held earlier this year, arguing that the Lebanese state should resolve the Palestinian file in Lebanon as a single package, and should not prioritize weapons over Palestinian rights and demands.
Sources in Hamas told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group is still waiting for Dimashkieh to invite all factions to dialogue on the weapons issue and outstanding files related to Palestinian rights, with the aim of agreeing on a framework paper for a solution.
They said Dimashkieh had promised during the last meeting to call for such talks, but no invitation has been made.
There appears to be no Lebanese political or military plan to forcibly collect Palestinian weapons.
Military sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the army’s current role regarding the remaining weapons inside the camps is limited to preventing the entry or exit of arms, with security measures tightened at the main and secondary entrances to camps across Lebanon.
Fifth batch of Fatah weapons handed over
Meanwhile, the Lebanese army announced on Tuesday that, as part of the ongoing process to remove weapons from Palestinian camps, it had taken delivery of a quantity of Palestinian arms from the Ain al-Hilweh camp in southern Lebanon, in coordination with the relevant Palestinian authorities.
The army stated that the handover included various types of weapons and ammunition, which were received by specialized military units for inspection and further processing.
For its part, the Palestinian National Security Forces in Lebanon, the military wing of Fatah, said in a statement that its forces had completed on Tuesday the handover of the fifth batch of heavy weapons belonging to the Palestine Liberation Organization at the Ain al-Hilweh camp in Sidon.
The statement said the move was in implementation of the joint presidential statement issued by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in May, and the subsequent work of the joint Lebanese-Palestinian committee tasked with following up on camp conditions and improving living standards.
The total number of Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA in Lebanon stands at 489,292. More than half live in 12 organized camps recognized by UNRWA.
