Lebanon's Plan to Disarm Palestinian Militias: A Key Move Against Hezbollah

The Lebanese government aims to begin disarming armed Palestinian factions in refugee camps starting June, a trial ahead of addressing the more formidable challenge of disarming Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed militia that has long held sway over southern Lebanon.

Lebanon's government is preparing to initiate a process of disarming armed Palestinian factions situated in various refugee camps across its territory in June, a significant move towards enforcing state control over all weapons in the country. This disarming process is being viewed as an experimental assessment prior to tackling the more substantial task of disarming Hezbollah, the influential Iranian-backed Lebanese militia notorious for its military strength that eclipses the capabilities of the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Mohanad Hage Ali, an expert at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, articulated that this process serves as a preliminary trial. “If this happens smoothly, then yes, maybe this will expedite” the eventual disarming of Hezbollah, he remarked. For years, the Lebanese state and its military apparatus have been undermined by a multitude of armed groups operating independently of state authority.

Hezbollah has traditionally dominated southern Lebanon, maintaining a crucial military infrastructure. Meanwhile, Palestinian armed groups maintain a strong presence in Lebanon's densely populated and impoverished Palestinian refugee camps, areas from which the Lebanese army has historically refrained from entering.

The recent conflicts with Israel, which have weakened Iran's influence over its allied militias, have empowered Lebanon's newly formed government to reassert its authority and diminish Hezbollah's longstanding dominance within the country's socio-political landscape.