Why is Lebanon home to so many Palestinian refugees and leaders?

When Hamas politburo member Saleh al-Arouri was laid to rest in the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday evening, Palestinians from around the country gathered to bid him goodbye.

Al-Arouri was killed in a drone strike on a Beirut neighbourhood that is a stronghold of the Lebanese group Hezbollah, allies of Hamas. The Hamas leader had been in Lebanon since 2015 – one of tens of thousands of Palestinians in the country.

When Hamas politburo member Saleh al-Arouri was laid to rest in the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday evening, Palestinians from around the country gathered to bid him goodbye.

Al-Arouri was killed in a drone strike on a Beirut neighbourhood that is a stronghold of the Lebanese group Hezbollah, allies of Hamas. The Hamas leader had been in Lebanon since 2015 – one of tens of thousands of Palestinians in the country.

Successive waves of Palestinian refugees to Lebanon have led to a stateless population of up to about 270,000 people, who live in 12 camps across the nation.

It started with the Nakba of 1948, when 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from Palestine during the creation of Israel, and has continued since, as resistance leaders and refugees alike sought shelter from Israeli attacks.

But while Lebanon has hosted these refugees, they have faced systemic discrimination – and the Palestinian community and its leaders have constantly lived under the threat of Israeli attacks.

Who governs the Palestinian camps?

Since 1969, Lebanese security forces have been banned from entering the camps, with security provided by several armed Palestinian factions.

At times, these armed groups have clashed among themselves, vying for influence, control and support from the Palestinian community.

The refugee camps remain recruitment grounds for Palestinian armed factions: in early December Hamas put out a call for people in the camps to join the group.

How many refugees are there?

Accurate population numbers are hard to come by, with the 2017 Lebanese census reporting about 170,000 refugees resident within the Lebanese camps, while the UNRWA – the UN agency which supports Palestinian refugees – reports more than 270,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon.

But as many as 475,000 Palestinians are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon.