October 25, 2026
The waste crisis in Beddawi camp is worsening after trucks belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) continue to be prevented from unloading their cargo at the sorting plant in Tripoli, which is used as a temporary waste dump. This measure resulted in the accumulation of huge quantities inside the camp’s neighborhoods, amid serious warnings of catastrophic repercussions on public safety and the environmental and health conditions of the residents.
In this context, the official of the Popular Committee in the Beddawi camp, Abu Rami Khattar, denounced the continued ban on transporting the camp’s waste to the aforementioned site, at a time when it receives the waste of the city of Tripoli and neighboring areas, considering that this situation raises major question marks about the standards followed in dealing with the camp and the reasons for its exclusion.
Khattar explained that the storage capacity for collecting waste inside the camp has reached its maximum limit and cannot accommodate the constantly increasing quantities, warning of a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe if an urgent settlement of the crisis is not reached.
The Palestinian official revealed that UNRWA pays about $80,000 to the Al-Fayhaa Municipalities Union in exchange for treating the waste file, suggesting – as a matter of possibility, not certainty – that the reason for banning trucks is linked to efforts to raise the value of the amounts paid.
Khattar concluded his appeal by calling on the relevant official, municipal and Palestinian authorities to intervene quickly and decisively to contain the crisis, and to prevent the danger of the mountains of accumulated waste turning into a direct threat to the health of the camp residents and their environment, in conjunction with the continuing pressures surrounding the management of the waste file in the regions of northern Lebanon.
