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Lebanon

Lebanon

May 4, 2026

Beirut 11:40 pm

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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.

Latest News

Analysis

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

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

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

'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.

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

Eva's Story Highlights Plight Of Women in Lebanon

The story of a 13-year-old Lebanese girl who was kidnapped and forced into marriage highlights the overall plight of Lebanese women today.

Lebanese army soldiers ride on their military vehicles after being deployed to tighten security following days of clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in the northern port city of Tripoli October 28, 2013. Two people died in the northern city of Tripoli on Monday, security and medical sources said, in fighting between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Lebanese army which has spilled over from the war next door. REUTERS/Omar Ibrahim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL U

Lebanon: Between Tripoli and Balochistan

Northern Lebanon is paying the price for the rise of radicalism in the region.

Palestinian labourers work on a construction site in Ramat Shlomo, a religious Jewish settlement in an area of the occupied West Bank Israel annexed to Jerusalem October 30, 2013. Israel announced plans on Wednesday to build hundreds of new settlement homes on land that the Palestinians want for a future state, hours after it released a group of Palestinian prisoners from its jails. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK - Tags: BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION POLITICS) - RTX14TMP

Release of Palestinian Prisoners Not a License for Creeping Annexation

Did US Secretary of State John Kerry know that Israel would approve new settlements after releasing Palestinian prisoners?

An ultra-Orthodox youth walks past a construction site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit October 17, 2013. Housing starts in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank are up by 70 percent this year, the anti-settlement Peace Now group said on Thursday, despite reports Israel has been quietly delaying new construction. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK - Tags: BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX14EUM

Creeping Settlements Undermine Peace Negotiations

Israel's expanding settlements have not halted during the negotiations brought about by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

One of the nine newly released Lebanese hostages, who were held by rebels in northern Syria, carries a Hezbollah flag as he is welcomed by his relatives upon his arrival at Beirut international airport, October 19, 2013. A plane with nine Lebanese hostages freed from northern Syria landed safely in Beirut on Saturday night, witnesses said, nearly a year and a half after the men were captured by Syrian rebels near the Turkish border. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX14H60

Turkey-Lebanon Detainee Swap Shows Lebanese State's Decline

Although the Lebanese rejoiced at the deal that secured the release of nine Lebanese detainees in Syria, the details of the swap reveal the Lebanese state’s inefficiency in dealing with such matters.

Lebanese Interior Minister Marwan Charbel (C) speaks to soldiers in Beirut's southern suburbs September 23, 2013. Lebanese security personnel were deployed today in the southern suburbs of Beirut, part of a move to take over the checkpoints set up by Hezbollah after recent car bombings targeted the area, according to the local media. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX13WWZ

Lebanon Gains From Hostage Deal, Regional Trends

Qatar and the Palestinian Authority, which are at odds with Hezbollah, seem to have played key roles in releasing Lebanese hostages close to Hezbollah.

January 1946: The flags of the United Nations being put up over the main entrance hall in Central Hall. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

At 68, Has The UN Reached the Age of Wisdom?

On the 68th anniversary of its founding, the UN is still the only body that can tackle today's complex international problems.

Lebanese Army soldiers patrol in front of a poster depicting Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in the Sunni Muslim Bab al-Tebbaneh neighbourhood, in Tripoli, northern Lebanon October 23, 2012. Four people were killed and 15 wounded in overnight gun battles in the Lebanese city of Tripoli in a second night of fighting between Sunni and Alawite gunmen loyal to different sides in the war in neighbouring Syria, a military source said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Omar Ibrahim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY)

Saudi Decision on Security Council Is About Syria

Saudi Arabia’s decision to decline a Security Council seat expresses anger in some Sunni Muslim quarters about the Syria war.

Turkish Airlines pilot Murat Agca talks to media at Istanbul's Ataturk airport October 19, 2013. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan personally greeted two kidnapped Turkish pilots when they arrived back in Istanbul on Saturday after two months in captivity in Lebanon. The pair were released earlier under a deal whereby nine Lebanese hostages were freed in Syria and allowed to return home via Turkey. The Turkish pilots had been abducted in retaliation for the snatching of the Lebanese. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY

Turkey Rescues Its Pilots in Swap Deal

Turkey’s silent diplomacy yielded results on Oct.19, when it rescued the two Turkish Airlines pilots kidnapped in Beirut on Aug. 9.

Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird (L) shakes hands with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud before a meeting of the Group of Friends of the Syrian People during 68th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York, September 26, 2013. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX1418C

Can Saudi Withdrawal From Security Council Spark Dialogue?

While unfortunate, the withdrawal of Saudi Arabia from the UN Security Council may focus attention on the lack of an Arab voice at the UN.

Protesters shout slogans as they hold an image of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during a demonstration against the possibility of a U.S. military strike against the Syrian government, in Tunis September 10, 2013. REUTERS/Anis Mili (TUNISIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX13G1N

Hezbollah Deputy Received in Paris

France hosts a Hezbollah deputy just three months after the party was added to the EU terrorist list.

A U.N. vehicle returns to a hotel where experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are staying, in Damascus October 11, 2013. The global chemical weapons watchdog charged with overseeing destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile during a civil war won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a relatively small organisation with a modest budget, dispatched its experts after a sarin gas attack killed more t

Is Saudi Arabia Holding Up The Geneva II Conference on Syria?

While Turkey may be shifting its Syria policy in response to domestic and international pressure, Saudi Arabia appears to be digging in to oppose the trend toward a diplomatic solution.