Lebanon Moves to Disarm Palestinian Groups, a Test Run for Hezbollah

Lebanon’s government will begin disarming the armed Palestinian factions in refugee camps on its territory in June, an important step toward its goal of bringing all weapons in the country under state control, a spokesman for the prime minister said on Friday.

Disarming the Palestinian factions will be a trial run ahead of a much larger challenge: stripping the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese militia, Hezbollah, of its weapons.

“This is a test,” said Mohanad Hage Ali, a fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. “If this happens smoothly, then yes, maybe this will expedite” the process of disarming Hezbollah.

Despite their nominal authority, the Lebanese state and its military have long been sidelined in matters of war, peace and security by an array of armed groups outside of their control. Foremost among them is Hezbollah, which has long dominated the south of Lebanon and which has military capabilities that far outstrip those of the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Palestinian armed factions hold sway in Lebanon’s impoverished, overcrowded Palestinian refugee camps, where the Lebanese army does not enter.

But after the latest wars with Israel weakened Iran-backed militias across the region, including Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza, Lebanon’s new government has moved to end Hezbollah’s dominance and assert its own authority.