Latest news with #refugeeCamps
CBC
07-07-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Palestinians fear Israel is preparing to annex the West Bank
Since January, Israel has forced tens of thousands of people out of decades-old refugee camps in the occupied West Bank and installed barriers to restrict movement across the territory. The IDF says it's preventing terrorism, but displaced Palestinians tell CBC's Margaret Evans they're worried it could be a precursor to annexation.
The National
03-06-2025
- General
- The National
Meeting of Palestinian factions in Lebanon postponed amid dispute over disarmament
A meeting of Palestinian factions from the 12 official refugee camps in Lebanon will be held next week, a member of the Fatah faction told The National on Tuesday, amid criticism from rival groups that they had been excluded from consultations over the decision for all factions to surrender their weapons to Lebanese authorities. 'There was supposed to be a meeting today or tomorrow with the Joint Palestinian Action Committee, which includes all factions – Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Islamist forces – but most of the leadership in the Hamas-PIJ coalition is currently travelling outside Lebanon,' said Abu Iyad Al Shaalan, a member of Fatah's leadership in Lebanon. 'So, the meeting has been rescheduled for immediately after Eid.' Despite the absence of Hamas and PIJ from the decision-making process, a delegation led by deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Azzam Al Ahmad is in Beirut to discuss the next steps towards implementing a multiphase plan to disarm Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps in the coming weeks. The plan seeks the surrender of medium to heavy weaponry but will allow Palestinian security forces to keep light arms. Hamas's leadership in Lebanon voiced dissatisfaction with what it suggested was a unilateral decision by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, but has made no further public comment. 'Right now, there's no fixed appointment for after Eid,' a Hamas source told The National. 'We haven't been informed of the disarmament plan in any official capacity.' The source said 'bypassing' factions outside the Fatah-dominated PLO, such as Hamas and the PIJ, has 'upset many of the factions'. 'No one knows the factional structure of the camps except the Palestinians of Lebanon. Everyone who is speaking on behalf of the Palestinians in Lebanon is coming from Ramallah, and they don't know how to administer the camps or maintain the balance,' the source said, referring to the Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank where the PA has its headquarters. Mr Al Shaalan said the disarming the refugee camps would begin in mid-June as planned, despite 'a few voices of disagreement here and there, but they don't affect Fatah or the PLO's decision'. 'Everyone is comfortable with the plan that is being discussed and with the proposals being made,' he said, referring to a series of meetings between the PLO delegation and Lebanese officials. The issue of disarming Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, which fall outside Lebanese state control, has long been a contentious one. Armed groups such as Hamas and PIJ – aligned with Hezbollah and committed to armed resistance against Israel – have previously used Lebanon as a launch pad for attacks across the border. They also have popular support in many of the camps. Disarming the camps comes under a broader initiative by Lebanese leaders to limit and disarm non-state actors. But the memory of Lebanon's 1975–1990 civil war – during which Palestinian militias were among the main participants, alongside a series of Lebanese factions and international proxies – still lingers for many Palestinians, who view weapons as essential for self-defence. Weaponry also holds deep symbolic value for Palestinians in Lebanon, many of whom were expelled from their land in 1948 during the Nakba, which marked the creation of what is now Israel. For them, arms represent not only protection but a continuing struggle to return to their homeland. The PA is internationally recognised as the governing body of parts of the Palestinian territories, but its legitimacy is contested by many Palestinians. In Lebanon, Palestinian refugee camps are not governed by the PA, but by inter-factional committees – some of whom do not pledge loyalty to the PA. Under a long-standing arrangement, the Lebanese army does not enter the Palestinian camps, leaving security to be handled by the factions themselves. That arrangement may be coming to an end with the moves towards disarming the camps.
New York Times
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Corrections: May 28, 2025
A picture caption with an article on Saturday about Lebanon's plan to disarm Palestinian factions in refugee camps on its territory reversed the identifications of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, and Nawaf Salam, the Lebanese prime minister. Mr. Abbas was on the left, and Mr. Salam on the right. A picture caption with an article on Friday about the Senate's vote to block California's plan to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles misstated the name of an observatory in Los Angeles. It is the Griffith Observatory, not Griffin. An article on Monday about the path Democrats are searching for after their losses in the 2024 election misstated the gender of a Democrat in Georgia who had spoken this year with Anat Shenker-Osorio, a Democratic researcher. The person was a man, not a woman. Because of an editing error, an article on Monday analyzing the off-season moves of the 12 teams in the 2024 College Football Playoff reversed the surnames of two former Penn State players. They are Tyler Warren and Abdul Carter, not Tyler Carter and Abdul Warren. A video game review on May 16 about Doom: The Dark Ages misidentified the composer of the soundtrack for the game. It was composed by the team known as Finishing Move, not Mick Gordon. Because of an editing error, an article on Saturday about new comedy specials available to stream misidentified the woman who told Sarah Silverman her hair was dry. It was her mother, not her stepmother. An article on Tuesday about the near completion of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles referred incorrectly to the museum's acquisition of Judith Baca's monumental mural 'The History of California.' The museum acquired the archive for the mural, but not the mural itself. An article on Tuesday about the methods that archaeologists are using to map some of the dozens of sunken vessels in Lake Ontario misidentified the prevailing flow of the St. Lawrence River. A ship would have sailed up the river en route to Oswego, not down. Errors are corrected during the press run whenever possible, so some errors noted here may not have appeared in all editions.
LBCI
23-05-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Sources to LBCI: Palestinian disarmament to begin in Beirut's three main camps
The process of withdrawing Palestinian weapons in Lebanon will start in three refugee camps in Beirut—Borj El Brajneh, Shatila, and Mar Elias—according to information obtained by LBCI.
Asharq Al-Awsat
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Lebanon Starts Process to Disarm Palestinian Factions in Refugee Camps
A group tasked with making a plan to remove weapons held by Palestinian factions in Lebanon's refugees camps met for the first time Friday to begin hashing out a timetable and mechanism for disarming the groups. The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, a government body that serves as an interlocutor between Palestinian refugees and officials, said the meeting was attended by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and that 'participants agreed to launch a process for the disarmament of weapons according to a specific timetable." The group added that it also aimed to take steps to "enhance the economic and social rights of Palestinian refugees.' A Lebanese official familiar with the discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, said work to remove the weapons would begin within a month, The AP news reported. The meeting followed a visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Lebanon, during which he and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun announced an agreement that Palestinian factions would not use Lebanon as a launchpad for any attacks against Israel, and that weapons would be consolidated under the authority of the Lebanese government. There are multiple Palestinian factions active in Lebanon's refugee camps, which include Abbas' Fatah movement, the rival Hamas group and a range of other Islamist and leftist groups. The 12 Palestinian refugee camps aren't under the control of Lebanese authorities, and rival groups have clashed inside the camps in recent years, inflicting casualties and affecting nearby areas. Hamas and allied Palestinian groups also fought alongside the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah against Israel in Lebanon in a war that ended with a ceasefire in November. Hezbollah has been under increasing pressure to give up its own weapons since then. Hamas has not commented on the decision to remove weapons from the camps. The Lebanese official said that Hamas' office in Lebanon would be allowed to remain open if it worked only on political and not military matters. There are nearly 500,000 Palestinians registered with UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, in Lebanon. However, the actual number in the country is believed to be around 200,000, as many have emigrated but remain on UNRWA's roster. They are prohibited from working in many professions, have few legal protections and can't own property.
