Palestinians are still sifting through the Sept. 6 visit of Ismail Haniyeh, the chief of Hamas’ politburo, to the Ain al-Hilweh camp for Palestinian refugees in South Lebanon, where he received a warm welcome, including being carried on the shoulders of the crowd at one point.

Haniyeh’s visit to Lebanon, which began Sept. 1, was his first appearance there in 27 years. In 1992, he and more than 400 Hamas members were exiled to Lebanon by Israel; he returned to the Gaza Strip in 1993. This time, Haniyeh flew into Lebanon from Turkey.

A main aim of Haniyeh’s visit to Lebanon this month was for him to participate in a meeting of Palestinian factions' secretary-generals Sept. 3 in Beirut, in parallel with a meeting held in Ramallah in the West Bank.

After meeting with representatives of the Palestinian factions in Beirut, Haniyeh concluded his visit to Lebanon with a field tour of Ain al-Hilweh, where he delivered a speech praising the resilience of the camps’ inhabitants. He stressed that Palestinian refugees are guests in Lebanon until they achieve the right of return to Palestine.