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Lebanon, PA Reach Agreement to Disarm Palestinian Refugee Camps; Hamas Excluded From Talks
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
The disarmament of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon is set to begin next month, following an agreement between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Lebanese government, as part of the latter’s effort to assert control over its entire territory.
The agreement follows a three-day visit to Beirut by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, during which he met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to discuss the disarmament of all 12 Palestinian refugee camps across Lebanon.
During their meeting, both leaders agreed that Palestinian factions would not use Lebanese territory as a launchpad for attacks against Israel and that all weapons would be placed under the authority of the Lebanese government.
In a statement, Lebanese authorities announced that both sides agreed to “launch the process of handing over weapons according to a specific timetable, accompanied by practical steps to bolster the economic and social rights of Palestinian refugees.”
Hamas — a rival of Abbas’s Fatah faction that dominates the PA — criticized the agreement for excluding them from the discussions, arguing that the demilitarization process lacked proper representation without their involvement.
The Palestinian terrorist group also urged the Lebanese government to hold a dialogue with all Palestinian factions present in the country.
“We call on the Lebanese government to open a responsible dialogue with the Joint Palestinian Action Committee, which includes all Palestinian factions and forces, to discuss the Palestinian situation from all its aspects,” Ali Baraka, Hamas’s head of foreign relations, said in a statement.
“Limiting the discussion to the security framework alone could open the door to the trap of resettlement or displacement, which is what [Israel] seeks,” Baraka continued.
By a long-standing agreement, the Lebanese army refrains from entering the refugee camps — where Fatah, Hamas, and other armed groups operate — and instead leaves security responsibilities to the factions within the settlements.
According to UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, Lebanon is home to more than 200,000 Palestinian refugees who are subject to government restrictions that bar them from many professional jobs, limit their legal protections, and prohibit them from owning property.
Under the new agreement, Hamas — which has long maintained operations in Lebanon — will reportedly only be allowed to operate in the country for political activities, with no involvement in military matters, Lebanese officials said.
In the past, Hamas has claimed multiple attacks on Israel launched from Lebanese territory, especially during last year’s conflict between the Jewish state and Hezbollah — a war that erupted after the terrorist group expressed “solidarity” with Hamas following the group’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In November, Lebanon and Israel reached a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended a year of fighting between the Jewish state and Hezbollah. Under the agreement, Israel was given 60 days to withdraw from Lebanon’s southern border, allowing the Lebanese army and UN forces to take over security as Hezbollah disarms and moves away from Israel’s northern border.
Israel, which decimated much of Hezbollah’s senior leadership during last year’s war, has continued to carry out regular airstrikes in southern Lebanon since the ceasefire.
Israeli officials assert that Hezbollah continues to maintain infrastructure in the south of the country, while Lebanon and Hezbollah accuse Israel of occupying Lebanese territory by refusing to withdraw from five hilltop positions.
The post Lebanon, PA Reach Agreement to Disarm Palestinian Refugee Camps; Hamas Excluded From Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Readies for a Nationwide Strike on Sunday
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are calling on for a general strike to be held on Sunday in an effort to compel the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones and a ceasefire. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
The October 7 Council and other groups representing bereaved families of hostages and soldiers who fell since the start of the war declared they were “shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages.”
While many businesses said they would join the strike, Israel’s largest labor federation, the Histadrut, has declined to participate.
Some of the country’s top educational institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, declared their support for the strike.
“We, the members of the university’s leadership, deans, and department heads, hereby announce that on Sunday, each and every one of us will participate in a personal strike as a profound expression of solidarity with the hostage families,” the Hebrew University’s deal wrote to students.
The day will begin at 6:29 AM, to commemorate the start of the October 7 attack, with the first installation at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Further demonstrations are planned at dozens of traffic intersections.
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Netanyahu ‘Has Become a Problem,’Says Danish PM as She Calls for Russia-Style Sanctions Against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem,” his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen said Saturday, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war.
“Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen told Danish media, adding that the Israeli government is going “too far” and lashing out at the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and announced new homes in the West Bank.
“We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she said, specifying she referred to “political pressure, sanctions, whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole.”
“We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect.”
The devastating war in Gaza began almost two years ago, with an incursion into Israel of thousands of Palestinian armed jihadists, who perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
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As Alaska Summit Ends With No Apparent Progress, Zelensky to Meet Trump on Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the press conference after the opening session of Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 August 2023. The Crimea Platform – is an international consultation and coordination format initiated by Ukraine. OLEG PETRASYUK/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – After US President Donald Trump hailed the “great progress” made during a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he was set to meet Trump on Monday at the White House.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference after the meeting.
Many observers noted, however, that the subsequent press conference was a relatively muted affair compared to the pomp and circumstance of the red carpet welcome, and the summit produced no tangible progress.
Trump and Putin spoke briefly, with neither taking questions, and offered general statements about an “understanding” and “progress.”
Putin, who spoke first, agreed with Trump’s long-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Trump been president instead of Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump said “many points were agreed to” and that “just a very few” issues were left to resolve, offering no specifics and making no reference to the ceasefire he’s been seeking.