Disarmament begins Saturday at Ain al-Hilweh and al-Beddawi camps

The handover of Palestinian weapons at the Ain al-Hilweh and al-Beddawi refugee camps will begin Saturday and continue for three days, the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee announced on Friday.

“Dialogue with Hamas is ongoing for the handover of its weapons,” Committee sources told Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel, adding that they expect the file to be finalized at the end of the month.

So far only the Fatah Movement has handed over weapons from several camps in Beirut and its suburbs and the southern region of Tyre.

During a visit to Beirut in May, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun agreed that weapons in Lebanon's Palestinian camps would be handed over to the Lebanese authorities.

The implementation of the deal -- part of Lebanese authorities' decision to disarm all non-state groups -- began in August as Abbas' Fatah movement surrendered its weapons in south Beirut's Burj al-Barajneh camp.

By longstanding convention, the Lebanese Army stays out of the Palestinian camps -- where Fatah, Hamas and other armed groups are present -- and leaves the factions to handle security.

Lebanon hosts about 222,000 Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations agency UNRWA.

The move to collect the Palestinian factions' weapons comes as the Lebanese government, under heavy U.S. pressure and amid fears of expanded Israeli military action, has tasked the army with drawing up a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year.

During a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah that largely ended with a November ceasefire, Palestinian groups including Hamas claimed rocket fire towards Israel.