The leader of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, at his residence in Meerab, on November 29, 2021. (Credit: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters.)
Leader of Lebanese Forces (LF), Samir Geagea, called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday evening — who has been on an official visit to Lebanon since Wednesday — and praised his commitment to "Lebanese sovereignty over the entire national territory."
During this phone conversation, "Samir Geagea praised President Mahmoud Abbas's position in favor of the Lebanese state's sovereignty over the entire national territory, as well as the need to entrust the state with control of arms, both inside and outside the camps," according to the LF statement cited by the state-run National News Agency.
Geagea and Abbas also "exchanged views on the situation in the region, particularly in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon," and agreed to "maintain an open communication channel, in the interest of both countries and their peoples," the statement added.
The Palestinian president's visit to Lebanon is focused on the disarmament of Palestinian camps, as Beirut seeks to extend its authority over the entire Lebanese territory. During the first two days of his visit, he reaffirmed his attachment to Lebanese sovereignty, which must extend over the entire territory, including the Palestinian refugee camps.
During a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Joseph Aoun in Baabda on Wednesday, the two men assured that "the era of weapons escaping the authority of the Lebanese state is over," without detailing the methods of disarming the camps. The Palestinian president continued his tour on Thursday with other officials, including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. The latter praised, during a ceremony honoring Abbas, the fact that he rejected the militarization of Palestinian camps in Lebanon "outside of any national legitimacy."
Samir Geagea had already commented in a statement on Thursday about this visit of Abbas, stating that the refusal of Palestinian weapons in Lebanon by the head of the Palestinian Authority removes any pretext for other parties wanting to justify maintaining their arsenal in Lebanon, directly alluding to Hezbollah.