Lebanon army enters Palestinian camp ahead of Aoun’s US visit

BEIRUT — Lebanese military forces took control of the offices of a Palestinian faction inside a refugee camp on Wednesday, in the latest effort by authorities to enforce state authority across Lebanese territory.

What happened: The local Al-Jadeed news station reported on Wednesday that military and intelligence units entered the Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp just northeast of Tripoli and took over several offices and checkpoints that had been controlled by the Fatah al-Intifada movement.

According to the report, the move is part of a security plan to promote stability and control the security situation in the area.

الجيش يتسلم حاجزًا للفصائل الفلسطينية

أفاد مراسل الجديد بأن وحدات من الجيش اللبناني ومديرية المخابرات تسلّمت حاجزًا لحركة فتح الانتفاضة عند مدخل مخيم البداوي في شمال لبنان، ويندرج هذا الإجراء ضمن خطة أمنية تهدف إلى ضبط الوضع وتعزيز الاستقرار في المنطقة. #الجديد #أخبار_الجديد… pic.twitter.com/aGGTuVgeWd

— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) July 15, 2026

Lebanon's military has not yet commented on the news.

One of the offices seized is located at the entrance of the camp. Abu Yasser Deeb, the deputy secretary-general of the Fatah al-Intifada movement, told the Palestinian Refugees Portal news platform that the takeover of properties inside the camp could further isolate its residents after the closure of several unsanctioned entrances in recent months.

He said the area where the military deployed on Wednesday is the camp's only remaining point of access to a health clinic and school outside the camp.

Fatah al-Intifada is a breakaway group from the Palestinian Fatah movement that is active in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

Why it matters: The Lebanese military has stepped up its security measures in the Beddawi camp in the past year in response to repeated clashes and security incidents.

In March 2025, fighting broke out between Palestinians living in the camp and residents of the neighboring town of Wadi al-Nahleh, prompting the military to intervene. The dispute had erupted after a video circulated of a Lebanese man confiscating a truck carrying food aid supplied by Iran for the camp.

A month later, the Lebanese military closed 22 unofficial entrances to the camp.

In January of this year, the military took control of two security checkpoints from Palestinian factions at the entrances to the camp, part of the government’s efforts to extend state authority over all Lebanese territories and to bring all weapons under its control.

In May 2025, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Palestinian presidential advisers Wael Lafi and Yasser Abbas and PLO Secretary General Azzam Ahmad signed an agreement to begin the process of disarming Palestinian refugee camps.

Several factions have begun handing over their weapons to Lebanese authorities, including in Burj al-Barajneh in the southern suburbs of Beirut, as well as in Rashidieh, al-Buss and Burj al-Shemali in the southern city of Tyre.

Last September, the Lebanese military received three truckloads of weapons from the Beddawi camp.

Background: Lebanon is home to 12 Palestinian camps established by the UN refugee agency following the 1948 Palestinian Nakba, during which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled to neighboring countries. Nearly 500,000 Palestinian refugees were registered in Lebanon with the UNRWA as of February.

Under the 1969 Cairo Agreement between Lebanon and the PLO, the Lebanese military has no jurisdiction inside these camps, where security is handled by a committee of Palestinian factions. Over the years, the policy has led to increased militancy and radicalism in some of the camps.

Hamas, a Hezbollah ally, claimed a number of attacks launched from Lebanese territory toward Israel during the October 2023 war that ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in November 2024.

In addition to Hamas, Palestinian groups like Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine are present in the refugee camps, among other factions.

A few days after hostilities resumed between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in March, an Israeli airstrike hit the Khalil al-Rahman Mosque inside the Beddawi refugee camp, killing Hamas senior Wassim Atallah al-Ali, who oversaw training and exercises in Lebanon.

Know more: On Wednesday, Lebanon and Israel concluded a second day of talks under US auspices in Rome.

The Lebanese delegation was headed by Lebanon’s ambassador to the United States, Nada Hamadeh, and the Israeli delegation was led by Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter.

The Rome talks focused on mechanisms for establishing the so-called pilot zones outlined in the US-brokered framework agreement signed by Lebanon, Israel and the United States on June 26. Under the deal, the Lebanese military is to gradually assume responsibility for security in designated areas after dismantling Hezbollah military infrastructure and removing weapons, while Israeli forces would withdraw in stages.

A US State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity told reporters that the talks in Rome were “productive and positive.”

“We agreed on the structure and guidelines for the pilot zone process, to be finalized and implemented in the coming days,” he said, adding, “We will now move to expanded technical talks, which will focus on implementing all areas of the trilateral framework with the aim of reaching a comprehensive agreement between Israel and Lebanon.”

The meetings, which began at the US Embassy in Rome on Tuesday, are the sixth round since the two sides began landmark direct talks in Washington on April 16, aimed at securing a permanent end to hostilities.

Despite criticism leveled by Hezbollah and its allies against the framework agreement, which they view as conceding to Israeli dictates, President Joseph Aoun said it was the only viable option to secure Lebanon’s rights and that it is already producing results.

He also said that Washington has started to listen to Lebanon’s demands, adding that the Lebanese file “is now on the table.”

Aoun is expected to arrive in Washington on Saturday in the first such trip to the US by a Lebanese head of state since 2009.

He will hold his first face-to-face meeting with President Donald Trump on July 21.