Palestinian factions started handing over some of the weapons held in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Beirut to the Lebanese army on Thursday, an initial step in implementing a plan officials announced three months earlier for removing arms from the camps.

Lebanon said on Thursday it was launching the planned disarmament of Palestinian factions in refugee camps, part of a wider effort to establish a state monopoly on arms. The planned disarmament was starting with the handover of weapons on Thursday from the Burj al-Barajneh camp in Beirut to the Lebanese army,

A Palestinian security official said that “Fatah will begin handing over its weapons in Burj al-Barajneh camp within the framework of the coordination with the Lebanese army”. Abbas visited Beirut in May and reached an agreement with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that all arms in Palestinian camps would be surrendered to the state.