Armed Palestinian groups in refugee camps in Lebanon will start handing over their weapons to the authorities on Thursday, a joint committee said, following a deal reached in May. The announcement comes after the Lebanese government also tasked the army with formulating a plan to disarm the militant group Hezbollah by the end of the year.

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,

Palestinian factions in Lebanon began handing over weapons in refugee camps on Thursday as part of a government plan to bring arms under state control, Lebanese authorities said. In a statement, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s office said the first batch of weapons in the Burj al-Barajneh camp, Beirut will be delivered to the Lebanese army.