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Lebanon

Lebanon

May 4, 2026

Beirut 5:08 am

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Members of Lebanese security forces stand guard in the perimeter of the Parliament, a day ahead of a parliamentary session to elect a president in Beirut on January 8, 2025. Lebanese political heavyweights held talks on January 8, a day ahead of a parliamentary session to elect a president of the tiny Mediterranean country, already deep in economic and political crisis, and which has been without a president for more than two years. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Under US pressure, will Lebanon repeal Israel Boycott Law?

The 1955 law criminalizes all dealings with Israel, raising questions about how far Beirut can even go with its current engagement, currently at the ambassadorial level.

Ibrahim AMRO / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Without exit strategy, Israel faces emboldened Hezbollah, limited options on Iran

While President Donald Trump remains undecided on striking Iran again, the Israeli military is sinking deeper into its Lebanon quagmire with a reinforced Hezbollah.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C), alongside US State Department Counselor Michael Needham (2L) and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (2R), speaks during a meeting.

US seeks to train Lebanon army units to disarm Hezbollah: What to know

Funding for such a program remains unclear, though the Pentagon has requested $36 million for fiscal year 2027 to support Lebanon’s army.

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Despite Trump pressure to limit Israel's Lebanon attacks, Aoun-Netanyahu meeting still unlikely

As President Donald Trump pressures Israel to limit its strikes in Lebanon, Hezbollah is taking advantage of the situation.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Latest News

'Treason is war for external interests': Lebanon’s Aoun hits back at Hezbollah

Lebanese president Joseph Aoun (L) stands next to the parliament speaker Nabih Berri as he delivers a speech at the parliament building in Beirut Jan. 9, 2025.

Why US, Israel are freezing France out of Lebanon talks

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to journalists as he arrives for an informal meeting of the European Council in Nicosia, Cyprus, April 24, 2026.

In Lebanon, Saudi Arabia pursues quiet diplomacy as Trump pushes Israel normalization

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan (L) disembarks from an airplane upon his arrival at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on Jan. 23, 2025.

Analysis

Israel fears Trump angling for Lebanon deal to offset Iran missteps

US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (R) holds a signed "Make America Great Again" hat while (L-R) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lebanon Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad listen to US President Donald Trump speak during a meeting with Lebanon Ambassador to the US and Israel Ambassador to the US, at the White House in Washington, DC on April 23, 2026. US President Donald Trump met Lebanese and Israeli envoys at a new round of peace talks Thursday, with Beirut seeking a one-month extension of a

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Hanna Davis

In Beirut, reporting on politics, migration, human rights

Rodayna Raydan

In Boqaata, reporting on culture

A woman looks on as she sits amongst displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, who are sleeping on the ground at Bajed Kadal refugee camp, southwest of Dohuk province August 23, 2014. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR43FCQ

Maya Gebeily on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Maya Gebeily shares her thoughts on journalism.

Arab artists depict violence in their paintings

Many Arab artists — Lebanese, Syrian and Iraqi — have been inserting terrorism and violence into their paintings, to show the world the suffering of the Arab peoples.

Lebanese news photographers work during a protest against the forced closure of media institutions on Friday by Hezbollah gunmen and its allies in Beirut May 10, 2008. The Shi'ite movement Hezbollah tightened its control of the Lebanese capital on Saturday in a show of force after it routed gunmen loyal to the western-backed government. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON) - RTX5JNR

Mona Alami on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Mona Alami shares her thoughts on journalism.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry listens during the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism at the State Department in Washington February 19, 2015. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW RELIGION CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4QA6N

Why Lebanon skipped anti-terror meeting in Washington

Lebanon decided not to attend the international summit on counterterrorism in Washington when certain Lebanese parties, such as Hezbollah, balked at cooperating with Israel, among other issues.

Rebel fighters gather near the front line in Ratain village, north of Aleppo February 17, 2015. The Syrian army backed by allied militia have captured several villages near Aleppo in battles aimed at encircling the northern city and cutting off insurgent supply lines, a monitoring group said on Tuesday. The army also took villages including Bashkuwi and Sifat, while fighting raged in Hardatain and Ratain, said the Observatory, which tracks the Syrian conflict using sources on the ground. It added that at le

Syrian regime, allies lose decisive battles in Aleppo

The regime and its allies have suffered heavy losses in an offensive against the opposition’s largest stronghold in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

A man works in a field of cannabis at Hermel, Bekaa July 31, 2013. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ranked Lebanon in 2011 as one of the world's top five sources of cannabis resin. In recent years, security forces have sent tractors, bulldozers and armoured vehicles to plough up, flatten or burn the cannabis crops, leading to clashes with farmers armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Dramatic as they were, those shows of force by authorities achieved only partial success in a

Drug use creeps up in Lebanese schools

Despite warnings circulating online about a new drug quickly spreading in Lebanese schools, experts say that while the issue deserves attention, drug abuse among students is not as widespread as the rumors suggest.

A general view shows Roumieh prison, in Roumieh January 12, 2015. Lebanese forces stormed the country's largest prison on Monday where Islamist militants are detained, security sources said, as authorities searched for those behind a double suicide attack at the weekend. Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk headed to Roumieh prison east of Beirut early on Monday and told Reuters the crackdown came after intelligence showed some of the inmates were connected to the bombings, which killed eight. REUTERS/Mohamed A

Lebanon holds IS at bay, for now

The failure of the Islamic State’s plan to control territory and create an emirate in Lebanon bodes well, says a Lebanese security official who claims that Lebanon has clamped down on the major three terrorist hotbeds in the country.

Men take down a picture of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in the mainly Sunni Beirut neighbourhood of Tariq al-Jadideh February 5, 2015. Lebanon has begun removing political posters and party banners from neighbourhoods of the capital in a move to unify a country still divided from a civil war, following an agreement between the militant and political Hezbollah party and its rivals. Picture taken February 5, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY) - RTR4OHK4

Hezbollah, Future Movement find 'delicate stability' for now

The dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement continues despite the limited results it has yielded so far.

A man holds a mock Qassam rocket during a rally organised by Lebanese and Palestinian supporters of the Islamist movement Hamas and the Islamic Group, Jamaa Islamiya in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza strip where Hamas is engaged in a major confrontation with the Israeli army on July 11, 2014 in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon. Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike, raising the toll in four days of violence to 100, Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. AFP PHOTO / MAH

Is Hamas planning a strike from Lebanon's refugee camps?

A senior Hamas leader's call to open new fronts against Israel from Lebanon was neither confirmed nor denied by the movement, raising questions about the possibility of forming cells on the ground.

The head of the northern Israeli command, Gadi Eisenkot, delivers a briefing to the press on August 3, 2010 in Kiryat Shmona along the tense border between Israel and Lebanon, following clashes between troops on both sides that left 3 Lebanese soldiers, a journalist and a a senior Israeli officer killed. AFP PHOTO/JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Bennett, Liberman battle for defense portfolio

The next Israeli defense minister, be it Moshe Ya'alon, Avigdor Liberman or Naftali Bennett, will have to cope, together with new IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, with a new reality in which Hezbollah targets Israel from the Syrian border.

French President Francois Hollande attends a news conference in Riyadh December 29, 2013. France will supply weapons to the Lebanese army if it is asked to do so, French President Hollande said on Sunday during a visit to Saudi Arabia where he met King Abdullah. REUTERS/Stringer (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX16WOP

Arms shipment to Lebanon to arrive in April

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has announced that the first arms shipment of the Saudi grant, which has been stalled for more than year, will arrive to Lebanon on April 1.

A Lebanese soldier stands guard in front of a ship that delivered military donation from the U.S. government to the Lebanese army, during a ceremony at Beirut's port February 8, 2015. More than 70 M198 Howitzers, as well as 26 million rounds of ammunition including small, medium, and heavy artillery rounds, were delivered on Sunday from the United States as military aid to the Lebanese army. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4OOO9

Delay of French-Saudi military aid to Lebanon a mystery

US military aid has filled a crucial gap in Lebanon as a Saudi-French aid package has been delayed for unknown reasons.