Palestinians living in Lebanon are being paid $350 per month by Russia to fight on its behalf in the war in Ukraine, according to The Media Line.
Citing a Lebanese government source, the report said that most of those enlisting were born after 1969. This is because Beirut restricts them from obtaining official registration documents—they are considered perpetual “refugees”—thereby making it easier for them to travel to fight as mercenaries.
Some 200,000 Palestinian descendants of those who fled Israel during the 1948 war currently live in Lebanon and are considered refugees according to The United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s unique definition that applies only to them and no other group.
Many of the recruits are reportedly members of Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction, but also hail from groups such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.
Those being enlisted are reportedly skilled at operating drones or have experience in urban combat.
According to the report, some 300 Palestinians in Lebanon have already completed rapid training in Russia and been deployed to the frontl in Ukraine.