The Electronic Intifada 4 June 2025
PA leader Mahmoud Abbas on 22 May during his visit to Lebanon.
ZUMAPRESSOn 30 April, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told Sky News Arabia that Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas had raised the issue of disarming Palestinian factions in Lebanon’s refugee camps at the emergency Arab Summit in Cairo in early March.
It was a remarkable revelation. The emergency summit’s goal was the reconstruction of Gaza. But Abbas had other priorities. Both before and in the weeks since the Arab summit, Abbas has criticized the armed resistance by Palestinian factions on several occasions, especially by Hamas, notably demanding that what he called the “sons of dogs” release the remaining Israeli captives in Gaza.
And when he visited Lebanon on 21 May his focus remained on the light weapons inside the Palestinian refugee camps.
A joint Lebanese-Palestinian statement was duly issued that emphasized a commitment by both sides to the principle that the Lebanese state maintains the exclusive right to the possession of weapons.
For decades, the Lebanese authorities have treated the Palestinian camps in Lebanon as armed hotbeds that could explode at any moment and have ignored Palestinian refugees’ human rights.
Instead of transcending this narrow approach, Abbas’ visit reduced the Palestinian presence in Lebanon to only a security matter.
Why, and why now?
Appeasement
Abbas has been in power for over 20 years, even though his term in office should have ended in 2009. Since then he has ruled by presidential decree. He has often stated his opposition to armed resistance and has been traveling across the region to eliminate what remains of the resistance in the Palestinian refugee camps.
This is part of Abbas’ broader agenda and one that aligns with the US and Israel.
Abbas is facing a major legitimacy crisis among Palestinians in occupied Palestinian territory as well as – for different reasons – from international parties, notably the US. According to the latest poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, conducted between 1 and 4 May, 81 percent of Palestinians in occupied territory want his resignation, down slightly from the 84 percent who wanted him to resign in the last poll from September 2024.
He was under constant pressure from the Biden administration to implement reforms of the PA. Among those reforms was the promotion of a new leadership and a revitalized security force that would be deployed in Gaza once Israel withdrew its troops.
Instead of resigning, however, and making room for a new leadership to emerge, Abbas has hand-selected his successor. At the end of April, Abbas promoted Hussein al-Sheikh to vice president and deputy chair of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). For nearly two decades, al-Sheikh has served as the head of the PA’s coordinating committee with Israel and has steadily added new positions to his portfolio.
Abbas’ latest visit to Lebanon and his support for disarming Palestinians in the camps there must be seen as an attempt to appease the Trump administration and Israel. At the same time, Abbas also recognizes that Israel’s genocide in Gaza with overt American support has created an opportunity to eradicate Hamas – his Fatah movement’s fiercest rival and one that polls suggest would handily win any elections as long as Abbas is in charge – with assistance from Arab states.
Jenin
In early December, the PA launched a military operation in the Jenin refugee camp in order to eliminate pockets of armed resistance fighters against Israel’s occupation.
The PA described the fighters as “outlaws” and accused them of providing Israel with an excuse to launch a Gaza-style invasion of the West Bank.
Timed to coincide with the Trump administration’s assumption of power, Abbas could have argued that the PA’s security forces were ready to control post-war Gaza – had it succeeded.
It didn’t.
The operation was conducted with the oversight of US Security Coordinator Lt. General Mike Fenzel, who coordinated with Israel for the delivery of equipment and ammunition for the PA’s security forces.
It lasted nearly two months and resulted in the deaths of at least eight civilians, the wounding of dozens and the arrest of nearly 330. Donations for Gaza were also seized.
However, the operation did not achieve its goals of crushing the resistance in Jenin. It was instead halted after an agreement was reached with the fighters, as the PA faced rising anger and criticism across the occupied West Bank for copying Israeli tactics in the midst of the Gaza genocide.
Almost immediately afterwards, Israeli forces launched an expanded invasion of Palestinian refugee camps on 21 January. The operation, dubbed “Iron Wall,” was the largest since the second intifada, and the Israeli military not only attacked the Jenin refugee camp, but also targeted the al-Ain refugee camp in Nablus, the Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps in Tulkarm, and the El-Far’a refugee camp in Tubas.
The PA has been a bystander as over 40,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from these camps and Israel’s operations are still ongoing.
Jordan and Syria
To cover for the failed Jenin operation, Abbas has sought to eliminate the resistance in neighboring countries. In early February, Abbas met with Jordan’s King Abdullah. Two months later, Jordan arrested 16 members of the Muslim Brotherhood that it alleged were planning an attack inside the country. Jordanian officials claimed that several members had received training in Lebanon from Palestinian groups.
Less than two weeks later, Jordan banned the Muslim Brotherhood in the country.
Hamas was founded in 1987 out of the Palestinian branch of the transnational Muslim Brotherhood. Jordan has previously criticized the Jordanian branch for organizing pro-Hamas rallies in response to the genocide in Gaza. The PA quickly endorsed Jordan’s actions in “confronting terrorist plots.”
As Jordan launched its crackdown, Abbas met with interim Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus. Syria has hosted numerous Palestinian factions, most notably Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC) for decades. These factions are all united by their opposition to the Oslo Accords.
During the Syrian conflict, Abbas sided with Bashar al-Assad’s government against the opposition. His visit appeared to mark a change in the PA’s stance.
A few days after the meeting, Syrian authorities arrested two Islamic Jihad leaders and Talal Naji, the Secretary-General of the PFLP-GC.
Media reports have also indicated that the United Arab Emirates is brokering negotiations between Syria and Israel for a peace agreement.
Lebanon
Since the ceasefire between Hizballah and Israel came into effect in November, the relationship between Hamas and the Lebanese authorities has entered a new phase.
Hamas fears that Lebanon will accede to American pressure to eliminate its presence in the country. Last month, the Lebanese Army announced the arrest of Hamas members for firing rockets toward Israel from southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s Higher Defense Council issued a recommendation to the Lebanese Council of Ministers to warn Hamas against using Lebanese territory to carry out any actions that threaten the country’s national security. Hamas has repeatedly affirmed its respect for Lebanese sovereignty, its commitment to the ceasefire agreement concluded by Hizballah with Israel, and its adherence to established laws.
However, Abbas aspires not only to disarm Hamas in Lebanon, but to have it criminalized and banned as well.
Since 2018, Lebanese authorities have coordinated with the Palestinian Joint Action Committee to contain the actions of Palestinian groups in the country. Established through the efforts of Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the committee represents the 20 Palestinian factions and parties active in the country. It includes representatives from the PLO as well as the Palestinian Forces Alliance, which includes Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups.
These groups operate in and around Lebanon’s 12 Palestinian refugee camps and gatherings. The camps have long been neglected by the Lebanese state and suffer from poverty, chronic unemployment, overcrowding and dilapidated infrastructure.
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have faced significant legal and social restrictions for decades, including on their ability to work in many professions and to own property. The lack of civil rights has contributed to their total dependence on the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, for education and health services or assistance from non-governmental organizations.
Palestinian factions within the camps often fill the political vacuum created by the neglect of the Lebanese state and the PLO, which has been weakened by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.
Fragile rule
Lebanese authorities coordinate with the Palestinian Joint Action Committee, particularly on issues requiring security intervention in the camps. This committee manages its affairs independently of the PA and has succeeded in resolving and containing armed conflicts between the factions.
The Palestinian embassy in Lebanon does not represent Palestinian refugees or defend their rights inside the country, or even provide them with basic financial assistance. Rather, it represents Abbas in Lebanon and reports to him.
Abbas is now attempting to bypass the existing framework of Palestinian representation in Lebanon. Most of his hand-selected representatives to the new Lebanese-Palestinian Joint Committee to discuss the issue of Palestinian weapons do not live in Lebanon. Among them is Abbas’ son, Yasser, who was present in his capacity as adviser to the Palestinian president.
Abbas wants this joint committee to serve as a channel between the PA and the Lebanese state. Abbas is also excluding Fatah’s official representatives in Lebanon from the joint committee, as key figures oppose his plan. This will provide Abbas and his son with the opportunity to exert even more control over Fatah.
Five days after Abbas’ visit, Lebanese President Aoun hosted a US congressional delegation. He informed them that the handover of weapons would begin in the middle of June in three Palestinian camps in Beirut.
“The Palestinian president has provided full support to the Lebanese state and the army, and the stages of implementing the agreement with the Palestinians will be monitored because the decision has been made and is irreversible,” Aoun’s spokesman reported in a statement.
Now 89, Abbas is attempting to extend his fragile rule to Palestinian communities abroad where he has no authority and even less legitimacy. Instead of attempting to convince American and European officials to halt the genocide in Gaza and cease security cooperation with Israel in the West Bank, Abbas chose Lebanon to settle his scores with Hamas and the Palestinian opposition factions.
Abbas hopes that his Arab allies will assist in extinguishing the Palestinian resistance in their countries and punish their supporters. As in Gaza and Jenin, this is being done without any consideration for the consequences of military action and the further displacement and suffering of Palestinian civilians. It will ensure that the PA and the PLO remain marginalized and beholden to the United States and Israel, rather than answerable to the Palestinian people.
Dalal Yassine is the Executive Director of Middle East Voices and is a lawyer and advocate for gender and human rights.
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