Palestinian president confirms Beirut visit after disarmament call

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will visit Lebanon on May 21 to discuss extending Beirut's authority to Palestinian camps, a Lebanese government official said Tuesday, as Abbas's office confirmed the date.

The visit comes after President Joseph Aoun said late last month authorities were working to "withdraw (unauthorized) heavy and medium weapons from all Lebanese territory", and that he would raise disarmament of the camps with Abbas.

The government official, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media, said Abbas and Lebanese leaders would discuss "extending state authority to all Lebanese territory, including the Palestinian camps".

By long-standing convention, Lebanon's army stays out of the Palestinian camps -- where Abbas's Fatah movement, militant group Hamas and other armed groups are present -- and leaves the factions to handle security.

Hamas claimed attacks on Israel from Lebanon during more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Palestinian group's Lebanese ally Hezbollah that erupted over the Gaza war.

A November ceasefire largely halted hostilities, but Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Lebanon, mainly targeting Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure but occasionally also Hamas members or other allies.

After unclaimed rocket fire towards Israel from Lebanon on March 22 and 28, Israel responded by bombing south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs, strongholds of the Iran-backed Hezbollah which denied involvement in the launches.

Lebanon's top security body the Higher Defense Council has warned Hamas against using the country for attacks on Israel.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also said illegal weapons must be handed over and that Hamas and other factions must not "undermine security and national stability".

Since then, Lebanon's army has said that Hamas has handed over three people suspected of involvement in the March rocket launches.

Last month, the army said it had arrested several Lebanese and Palestinians in connection with the rocket attacks, and a Lebanese security source told AFP three were Hamas members.

Abbas last visited Lebanon in 2017.