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Russia reportedly paying Palestinians to fight against Ukraine

Many of the recruits are allegedly members of Fatah who are based in Lebanon

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Ukrainian servicemen attend on their position on the frontline with Russian troops near Vugledar, Donetsk region, on February 27, 2023. (Photo by Anatolii Stepanov / AFP) (Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)

(JNS) Palestinians living in Lebanon are reportedly 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 from the Middle Eastern news service said that most of those enlisting were born after 1969, and therefore not full Lebanese citizens.

Palestinian refugees born in the country after 1969 are prevented from obtaining registration documents by the Lebanese government and are therefore harder to track if they leave the country.

The majority being deployed to Ukraine are allegedly from Ain al-Hilweh, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, located just south of the port city of Sidon, according to the report.

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, a special designation that is believed to only apply to this 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 US-designated terrorist group.

The Lebanese source said that the recruitment of Palestinians and others is being carried out by activists affiliated with the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Beirut in coordination with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror organization.

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 front in Ukraine.

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