For a country trying to write a new chapter in its history, Lebanon faces an array of formidable challenges. While Israel continues to carry out air strikes and occupy Lebanese territory in the south, the new government in Beirut is trying to exert its authority nationwide – including in areas where its writ does not currently run.

This difficult process is an important part of the country’s efforts to recover and prosper. As Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in a keynote address to the Arab Media Summit in Dubai yesterday: “Our country, exhausted by divisions, wars and patronage systems, has decided to regain itself, to regain its word, to regain its state”.

A prime example of this challenge to the state is to be found inside Lebanon’s 12 official Palestinian refugee camps. Located from Tripoli in the north to Tyre in the south, these poverty-stricken communities are home to more than 200,000 Palestinians displaced or born in exile........

© The Frontier Post (Editorial)