General Security Chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim Saturday met with a delegation from the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, headed by Mousa Abu Marzouk.
Talks highlighted developments at Palestinian camps across Lebanon and progress concerning the controversial health modifications of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
For months, Palestinians in many of the 12 refugee camps across Lebanon have been protesting the changes introduced by UNRWA.
In March, UNRWA temporarily suspended its new hospitalization protocols. It called on Palestinian factions to establish a technical working group of experts to review implementation of the policy.
Since Jan. 1, Palestinian refugees have been required to pay referral care costs of 5 percent if they receive treatment at a Palestinian Red Crescent hospital, 15 percent at a government hospital, and 20 percent at a private hospital. They had previously received free care at all three types of institutions.
UNRWA says this isn’t a cut in service, as more funding is now directed toward other areas, including expanded coverage for complex surgery and long-term care.
Hamas has also begun paying rent contributions to 1,880 families whose homes were damaged during the three-month battle in 2007 between the Islamic extremist militant group Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese Army. Over 160 soldiers and well over 200 insurgents were killed in the battle.
The fighting displaced 27,000 Palestinian refugees from the camp while over 50 civilians were killed in crossfire – the vast majority of whom were Palestinian.
The group said in a statement that the contribution "comes within the efforts exerted by the movement in Lebanon to guarantee the stability and security and to defend the rights of Palestinian refugees."
