President Joseph Aoun and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, during their meeting in Baabda, on May 21, 2025. Mohammad Yassin/L’Orient-Le Jour
BEIRUT — A step toward the Lebanese state reclaiming its monopoly on weapons was taken — by the Palestinian Authority.
On Wednesday, during the first day of a three-day official visit to Beirut, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, at Baabda Presidential Palace. In a joint statement following the meeting, the two presidents affirmed that no weapons would remain outside the control of the Lebanese state.
The statement came as Beirut pushes to reassert its exclusive control over arms, notably through efforts to disarm Hezbollah. After dismantling the arsenal of the party south of the Litani River, the next phase is seen as the demilitarization of Palestinian refugee camps — a move viewed as a second step in the broader project, before addressing Hezbollah’s weapons across the rest of Lebanese territory.
Abbas’s visit marks his first trip to Lebanon since 2017. Lebanon hosts around 220,000 Palestinian refugees, many of whom live in overcrowded camps that lie outside the jurisdiction of Lebanese authorities.
The Palestinian president headed to Baabda directly after landing at Beirut airport, where he was received by Foreign Minister Joe Rajji.
In their joint statement — underscoring the alignment between the two presidents — Aoun and Abbas said that the era of weapons outside Lebanese state control has ended.
Abbas also reiterated "his commitment not to use Lebanese territory as a starting point for any military action and to respect Lebanon’s declared policy of non-interference in the affairs of other countries and to stay away from regional conflicts."
The visit follows two unclaimed rocket attacks launched from southern Lebanon toward Israel in March. Lebanese authorities arrested several Palestinians in the aftermath, including members of Hamas. While it remains unclear whether the Palestinian movement ordered the attacks, Lebanon’s Higher Defense Council, the country's top military body, issued a historic warning to Hamas in early May.
'Just and stable peace'
However, beyond this principled stance, no concrete measures or timetable were announced in the statement.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Lebanese government official told AFP that Abbas was expected to discuss "the establishment of a mechanism to gather weapons and remove them from the camps."
Under a tacit agreement, security inside the Palestinian refugee camps is managed by Palestinian factions — including Abbas’s Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO, also known as Fatah), Hamas, and other armed groups. In this context, a PLO source told the Saudi al-Arabiya channel on Wednesday evening that the party "is ready to control the weapons in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon."
It is worth noting that Abbas does not necessarily represent the position of Hamas, the PLO's main rival, which maintains a significant armed presence in Lebanon.
Asked by AFP, senior Hamas official in Lebanon Ali Barakeh called for a "comprehensive approach" to the question of the Palestinian presence in the country, one that would not be "limited to the matter of arms or security."
"We respect Lebanon’s sovereignty, security, and stability, but at the same time demand the guarantee of civil and human rights" for Palestinians, he said. Lebanon prohibits Palestinian refugees from working in dozens of professions.
In their joint statement, the two presidents recalled "the fraternal relations between the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples" and reaffirmed their "joint commitment to strengthen cooperation and coordination at various levels."
They also stressed "the need for a just and stable peace in the region, to enable the Palestinian people to establish their independent state, in accordance with international resolutions."
Aoun and Abbas further stated that they "acknowledge to all the countries and all the peoples of the region their legitimate rights," according to the statement, without providing further detail.
The two leaders also condemned the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, "which has resulted in heavy human losses and an unprecedented humanitarian disaster." They urged the international community "to take immediate and serious measures to end it and ensure the total protection of Palestinian civilians."
Aoun and Abbas underscored the need "to activate the role of the United Nations and its institutions to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people, uphold international law and implement the resolutions of international legitimacy."
Pressure on Israel
The two leaders also condemned repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon and urged the international community — particularly the United States and France — "to pressure Israel to implement the cease-fire agreement concluded in November 2024 under the sponsorship of the two countries."
They called for Israel’s withdrawal from occupied hills, the return of Lebanese prisoners to allow the full deployment of the Lebanese Army to the country’s internationally recognized borders, in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which Lebanon has pledged to respect fully.
In a televised interview Sunday evening with Egypt’s ON TV, President Aoun reiterated that only the state should hold "the monopoly of weapons." He added that the Lebanese Army had dismantled six training camps run by Palestinian organizations located outside the refugee camps.