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 owing to their expulsion from their homeland in previous decades by Israeli forces. Outside state control, these areas have been ruled by an array of armed factions since the 1969 Cairo Agreement, which ceded responsibility for their security to the Palestine Liberation Organisation. An informal understanding prohibits Lebanese security forces from even entering the camps.
Generations later, this arrangement has added to instability within Lebanon. Some camps have become victims of outlaws, drug traffickers and extremists deciding to hide in plain sight there. Rival groups have clashed repeatedly; in September 2023, more than 2,000 people were displaced in Ain Al Hilweh – Lebanon’s largest refugee camp – as Palestinian factions and armed extremists fought with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
This would be an intolerable situation for any country, especially one as volatile as Lebanon. On Monday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun announced that a process to disarm Palestinian refugee camps will begin in mid-June. It will be a difficult task, and may not proceed on that time table. Lebanon’s underfunded armed forces have a matter of weeks to bring the situation under control and reverse decades of entrenched support for armed groups with their own political agendas and, in some cases, foreign support.
There are also deeper issues to be reckoned with. The broken situation in the camps is born out of Israel’s continuing occupation of Palestinian land. Palestinians in Lebanon want to go to their homeland, not live a shadow existence on the fringes of Lebanese society. At the same time, Israel’s bombardment and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza provides a difficult and sensitive context for Beirut’s attempt to bring Palestinian weapons under control.
Palestinians in Lebanon want to go home, not live a shadow existence on the fringes of Lebanese society
The Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, met Mr Aoun in Beirut last week, and is seeking to co-ordinate the disarmament. But for the plan to have the greatest chance of success, it must be made clear that it is not about disempowering Palestinians or enabling one faction to dominate other – it is about restoring Lebanese sovereignty and stability.
There will be those who will regard this process as a litmus test for how to handle another armed organisation outside state in control in Lebanon, namely Hezbollah. But the situation regarding the Iran-backed group has a different dynamic that does not allow for a one-size-fits-all solution.
Nevertheless, the principle behind disarming Lebanon’s many militias is key: that a country’s legitimate government holds the monopoly over armed force. As Serhan Serhan, a member of the PA’s Legislative Council and deputy secretary of Mr Abbas's Fatah faction in Lebanon said recently: "We are all under the ceiling of Lebanese law." If this is true, then there should be no room for any one faction to bring the house down.
'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness'
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg and Rachel McAdams
Rating: 3/5
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
A Prayer Before Dawn
Director: Jean-Stephane Sauvaire
Starring: Joe Cole, Somluck Kamsing, Panya Yimmumphai
Three stars
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Squad for first two ODIs
Kohli (c), Rohit, Dhawan, Rayudu, Pandey, Dhoni (wk), Pant, Jadeja, Chahal, Kuldeep, Khaleel, Shami, Thakur, Rahul.
Kibsons%20Cares
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About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
RESULTS
6.30pm Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner Canvassed, Par Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm Meydan Cup – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,810m
Winner Dubai Future, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Mouheeb, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
8.15pm Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
9.50pm Meydan Classic – Conditions (TB) $$50,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Topper Bill, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
9.25pm Dubai Sprint – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner Man Of Promise, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
