BEIRUT—The charade of handing over weapons in a Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut on Thursday evening was considered nothing but a political scandal, whereby the Lebanese authorities—like their Palestinian counterparts—have transformed into clowns willing to do whatever they can to please Washington and Riyadh.

In a staged and ridiculous display, the Lebanese military service was handed over a collection of burlap sacks in which the Ramallah-based mercenaries had collected some Dushka machine guns, RPGs, ammunition magazines, bullets, hand grenades, etc.

Ridiculously, the U.S. envoy Thomas Barrack to Lebanon quickly congratulated “the Lebanese government and the Fatah movement on their agreement on voluntary disarmament in Beirut’s camps.”

Barrack claimed that this was “a major achievement resulting from the bold step taken recently by the Lebanese cabinet. It is a historic achievement toward unity and stability and demonstrates a genuine commitment to peace and cooperation.”

However, the Palestinian factions in Lebanon quickly denied any intention to surrender weapons inside the Palestinian camps, explaining that “what is happening inside the Burj al-Barajneh camp is an internal organizational matter within the Fatah movement, and has no connection, near or far, to the issue of Palestinian weapons in the camps.”

The Palestinian factions affirmed that their weapons “have always been and will always be weapons linked to the right of return and the just Palestinian cause. They will remain as long as the occupation remains on Palestinian land. They will only be used to confront the Zionist enemy until our people achieve their right to return, freedom, and the establishment of their independent state on their land.”

For his part, Major General Sobhi Abu Arab, commander of the National Security Forces in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon, affirmed that what was surrendered “is not the weapons of the Palestinian factions.”

This humiliating move is nothing more than a chapter in the process of presenting worthless surrender papers in the eyes of any rational person. The  sole benefit is that it has exposed the practices of the Ramallah Authority, which often smuggles weapons into the camps to fuel internecine fighting.

Despite the mockery the move provoked, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam was also unashamed to praise the “launch of the Palestinian weapons handover process.”

Salam had recently promised Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s son Yasser Abbas (after meeting him secretly) that his government was determined to thoroughly disarm the camps.

Following this, a National Security official in the Palestinian camps, Shadi al-Far, was arrested and dismissed on charges of rebelling against Ramallah’s decision to hand over his weapons. The weapons were subsequently confiscated from a garage in the Burj al-Barajneh camp.

Meanwhile, an announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would repatriate a Palestinian with an Israeli identity, Saleh Abu Hussein, who had been held in Lebanon for nearly a year, sparked widespread public anger, as no Lebanese prisoners were released in return.

According to Israeli Army Radio: “After negotiations in recent months with the assistance of the Red Cross, the citizen was transferred by Lebanese authorities through the Ras al-Naqoura crossing to the Coordinator of Prisoners and Missing Persons Affairs, Brigadier General (res.) Gal Hirsch.”  Security sources said, “The man entered Lebanon in July 2024 from the Naqoura area, and was arrested by the Lebanese army.”

It added that during his interrogation, he said he “left the occupied territories because he did not want to remain there, and that he had entered Lebanon to look for work.”

In Lebanon, no official statement was issued regarding what had happened. Sources alleged hat his release is part of a process that will unfold in the coming days. It seems it is linked to promises made by Thomas Barrack about “a step the Israeli government will take in response to the government’s decision to disarm the Resistance.”

MP Sayyed Ibrahim al-Moussawi, a member of the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc, condemned the unconditional release, stating, “We were surprised ... this raises questions and deep doubts about the authorities’ negligence and failure to take advantage of the available opportunity to complete a prisoner exchange with the other party.”

Al-Moussawi added, “The concerned officials in the authority must clearly and completely explain to the Lebanese people, especially the families of the prisoners, the truth of what happened. The competent judicial and security authorities must also open a comprehensive investigation to reveal the truth of what happened so that appropriate action can be taken.”

Meanwhile, Axios reported that the U.S. administration has asked Israel to reduce “non-urgent” military operations in Lebanon “to support the Lebanese government’s decision to begin the process of disarming Hezbollah.”

Axios noted that the latest discussion of these issues came last Wednesday in Paris during the meeting of Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer with U.S. envoys Thomas Barrack and Morgan Ortagus.