PALESTINIAN REFUGEES IN LEBANON FIND PURPOSE IN MILITANCY
▶ Hamas capitalises on popularity surge as youths line up to join the organisation, write Nada Homsi and Nada Maucourant Atallah in Saida
Abbas did not finish high school. He failed to see much point in doing so. He grew up in Ain Al Hilweh, the largest refugee camp for Palestinians in Lebanon. There, he said, most Palestinians with university degrees end up working blue-collar jobs, if they are lucky enough to find employment at all.
Instead, Abbas joined the armed wing of the Hamas movement, the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades. He said it was a decision born out of a deep desire to feel at home.
“We don’t live on our own land,” he told The National.
“In Palestine – if Palestine was free – I would have my rights as a human being. I would be in my own land.”
His casual attire and tranquil demeanour do not suggest Abbas is a fighter in Hamas’s armed wing. “I wanted to feel like I’m helping my homeland,” he said of his decision to become a militant.
Seventeen years have passed since Abbas, now 32, joined Hamas. Since then, the group has grown more powerful.
The assault on southern Israel on October 7, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed, has been a turning point for the group’s popularity among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
Although heavily criticised by the international community, for Palestinians, the attack shattered the illusion of Israel’s invincibility and returned the issue of Palestinian statehood to the spotlight.
Hamas was quick to capitalise on its growing popularity, announcing the creation of a new youth mobilisation unit in December called the Vanguards of Al Aqsa Flood.
At the time, the group called on “the youth and men of our people to join the vanguard resistance fighters and take part in shaping the future, and in liberating Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Mosque”.
Abu Nouh, a recruiter for the group, told The National that more than 1,000 people had joined in the southern Lebanese city of Saida alone. He said the goal was to enrol 10,000 nationwide.
“After October 7, many youths came to us. They wanted to learn more, and some were asking to join the resistance,” Abu Nouh said. “It’s why we created the Vanguards.”
The National sat down with Abbas, youth recruiters and political officials to understand what had motivated young people in Lebanon to join Hamas since October 7.
Before dropping out of school, Abbas and a group of his friends enrolled in Hamas’s youth movement, the Scouts of the Night Journey, where educational and religious classes, in addition to physical and outdoor activities were provided. After a few years, the scouts graduated to basic military training. By 17, Abbas was a formal member of Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades.
All Palestinian factions offer youth programmes in refugee camps, including Hamas’s main rival, Fatah.
In a way, it is a form of recruitment. However, it is also a way to mitigate the aimlessness of youths in the cramped camps, where more vulnerable teenagers can be swept into drugs, violence, or religious extremism.
Hamas official Abu Abed Shanaa, a community leader in Saida, said the group holds youth scouting programmes “to avoid kids going down the wrong path”.
Abu Abed said that since October 7, Hamas received many requests from young people in Lebanon who were hoping to join immediately.
Young Palestinians sought to join in the fight on the southern Lebanese border, where Iran-backed Hezbollah has been exchanging artillery fire with Israel in co-ordination with Hamas and other militant groups. This is due in part to the perception among many Palestinians that diplomacy has failed to create a viable Palestinian state, and that Hamas is the only organisation powerful enough to confront Israel.
“In the absence of any alternatives at this point, younger generations – especially over the last few years – have been swayed towards armed resistance because they feel like conciliatory politics or diplomacy doesn’t work with Israel,” Tahani Mustafa, a senior Palestine analyst at the Crisis Group, told The National.
The formation of the Vanguards of Al Aqsa Flood caused an outcry in the Lebanese political scene.
In Lebanon, Palestinian militancy has been a touchy subject since the country’s 1975-1990 civil war, which some say was exacerbated by the presence of Palestinians.
“The Vanguards of Al Aqsa Flood should be established in Palestine, not in Lebanon and not from Lebanon,” Kataeb Party leader Samy Gemayel said. “We will not return to a bygone era.”
Several Lebanese politicians evoked the term “Hamasland” in a reference to Fatahland, the term used when the Palestine Liberation Organisation led by Yasser Arafat operated in southern Lebanon and used it as a base to attack Israel.
“It’s a legitimate concern that is emanating from the experience of the Lebanese civil war,” said Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Centre.
“At the end of the day, for many in Lebanon, using the country as a launching pad for attacks against Israel is controversial given the history of the civil war and the activism of Palestinian militants.
“Hamas has definitely expanded in a way that no other Palestinian faction has done in Lebanon since the end of the Lebanese civil war.”
Hamas leaders dismissed the comparisons to Fatahland, leaning heavily into the idea that the formation of the Vanguards of Al Aqsa Flood was an attempt to curb chaotic attempts by young Palestinians to gather at the border.
They framed the unit as a form of youth outreach and empowerment, despite wide speculation that it was attempting to consolidate its armed presence in Lebanon, where Fatah remains the dominant party inside the camps.
“It’s just an extension of our summer camp programmes,” Abu Abed told The National. Abu Nouh said the goal was to ensure the youth remained committed to national liberation – whether they decide to join Hamas in the end or not.
But, Mr Hage Ali said, “everything starts with scouting”. Inevitably, some scouts will join Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades.
After years of scouting, Abbas decided to enrol in the military wing of Hamas.
Basic training took place in Hezbollah’s military bases.
The rest of the training is outside Lebanon, such as in Iran.
His last training, shortly before October 7, was so intense it was almost unbearable, he told The National.
It took place in one of Iran’s large military bases, where Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades fighters engaged in a live war simulation with other armed groups. “We were with Hezbollah, Iranians, Yemenis, Iraqis. It was the whole resistance axis,” Abbas said. “We really felt like we were in a war.”
The simulation lasted for days.
“At that time, I didn’t know they were preparing an attack from Gaza. In hindsight it makes sense. We trained for it.”
Since the Israel-Gaza war started, Abbas has spent time fighting in southern Lebanon, taking part in the cross-border attacks against Israel.
About four months into the conflict, the Lebanon-Israel border has effectively turned into a militarised zone. Tens of thousands of residents on both sides have fled from the violence.
More than 200 people have been killed in Lebanon, the AFP reported. The majority are Hezbollah fighters. Ten Hamas members have also been killed, along with 26 civilians.
On the Israeli side, nine soldiers and six civilians have lost their lives in the conflict, the Israeli army said.
Still, the dangerous raids are the closest Abbas has ever got to setting foot in his homeland.
“I know the end of this road,” he said, resolutely. “It’s victory, or it’s martyrdom.”
The Vanguards of Al Aqsa Flood should be established in Palestine, not in Lebanon and not from Lebanon
SAMY GEMAYEL
Kataeb Party leader