The Lebanese army received weapons from PLO factions outside of Lebanon’s largest refugee camp on Saturday, a Palestinian official said, as part of a push by the government to disarm non-state groups.

Abdel Hadi al-Asadi, of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said the umbrella group conducted “the operation of delivering new batches of weapons.”

The Lebanese army confirmed that it received “five truckloads of weapons from the Ain al-Hilweh camp in Sidon,” the largest in Lebanon, and “three trucks from the Beddawi camp in Tripoli.”

“The delivery included various types of weapons, shells, and ammunition,” the army said in a statement.

An AFP journalist near Ain al-Hilweh reported Lebanese army vehicles posted around the camp, preventing anyone from approaching.

The densely-populated Beddawi camp, near the northern city of Tripoli, was hit last year by Israeli strikes that killed a Hamas commander, his wife and two daughters, according to the Palestinian terrorist group.

In Beddawi, an AFP journalist saw three covered trucks leaving the camp, with Lebanese army vehicles waiting for them outside.

Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad, both not part of the PLO, which has begun handing over weapons, have not announced plans to disarm........

© The Times of Israel