BEIRUT: The first official census of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon released Thursday found that 174,422 Palestinian refugees are living in the country - much lower than the previous estimate of 450,000.

According to the study, carried out by both Lebanese and Palestinian statistics bureaus and the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, 45.1 percent live in refugee camps, while the remaining 54.9 percent live in “other gatherings.”

“We would see huge numbers used, 400, 500, or 600 thousand, and these would be used in politics. But this committee was able to define things, and thank god today we have results,” Prime Minister Saad Hariri said in an address at the event where the figures were released.

“Today it’s clear. 174,000. This is the real number, this is the number that others thought was 400 or 500 thousand, and we have to work as a government towards understanding. The most important thing is that we talk to each other.”

“Solidarity with Palestinians is a humanitarian duty before any duty of resistance,” Hariri said. “Lebanon won’t renounce its resistance in support of its Palestinian brothers.”

Hariri began his speech by once again criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the U.S. Embassy there.

Harri called the move “a gift to extremists and a block on the road towards the peace process.”

The situation in Lebanon’s 12 Palestinian refugee camps, Hariri said, “have become dramatic in all aspects and the Lebanese state cannot watch the situation deteriorate year after year.”

“The [census] of Palestinian refugees has shown that all of Lebanon will shoulder its refugees,” Hariri said.

The census was reportedly carried out by 500 people using tablets over a period of six months. Due to disagreements among political blocs, it took several years to agree to carry out the census, which was launched around a year ago under the patronage of Hariri.