Lebanon - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Lebanon

Lebanon

August 25, 2026

Beirut 11:03 am

32°C

Iranian ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani

In shift, Lebanon grants Iranian ambassador residency extension

Mohammad Reza Sheibani’s visa was set to expire early Tuesday morning and he was first ordered to leave in March.

ALINE DESCHAMPS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

In Lebanon, Italy proposes robust multinational force to replace UNIFIL: What to know

Italy has produced alternative to replace the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon and preserve an international security presence there.

Latest News

US Treasury issues Hezbollah sanctions, labels group Iran-linked

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent

In first, Lebanon to hand over former Syrian general to Sharaa government

This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency on Aug. 18, 2026, shows Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan (C) during the sentencing of Wassim al-Assad.

After 44 years, Israel retrieves remains of soldier killed in Lebanon: What to know

Katz

Analysis

Israel defies Trump on Lebanon as Netanyahu, Katz prioritize elections

Israeli army vehicles move to a position in southern Lebanon, March 27, 2026.

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

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Adshit, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on September 23, 2024. The Israeli military on September 23 told people in Lebanon to move away from Hezbollah targets and vowed to carry out more "extensive and precise" strikes against the Iran-backed group. (Photo by Ammar Ammar / AFP) (Photo by AMMAR AMMAR/AFP via Getty Images)

US, France call for 21-day cease-fire on Israel-Lebanon border

US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said it was time to “give diplomacy a chance to succeed.”

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the Jabal Al-Rehan area in the southern Lebanese Jezzine district on September 21, 2024.

US, UK militaries deploy troops to Cyprus in case of Lebanon evacuation

Washington has not yet authorized an evacuation, but President Joe Biden acknowledged "all-out war is possible" as Israel mobilizes two reserve brigades amid threats of a potential ground incursion to root out Hezbollah.

ETIENNE TORBEY/AFP via Getty Images

US, UK send troops to Cyprus in response to Lebanon crisis: What we know

Western countries have been calling on citizens to depart Lebanon while some Lebanese residents are fleeing to Syria.

IBRAHIM AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

More than 40,000 shelter in Lebanon schools as Israel expands airstrikes

Israeli airstrikes continued in Lebanon for the third day in a row, causing the worst wave of displacement in nearly two decades.

A cloud of smoke erupts during an Israeli airstrike on the village of Sujud in southern Lebanon on Sept. 25, 2024.

Israeli military prepares for possible ground operation in Lebanon

The Israeli military is activating two reserve soldier brigades in what could be part of the preparation for a possible ground invasion into Lebanon.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Marjayoun, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on Sept. 23, 2024.

Analysis

Could Israel's Lebanon assault force Hezbollah withdrawal beyond Litani River?

US and French mediation efforts to reach a deal between Israel and Hezbollah to de-escalate tensions and implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701 have failed so far.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Passengers check their flight times at the Beirut International Airport in Beirut on August 25, 2024, amid escalations in the ongoing cross-border tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. The Beirut airport did not close but some airlines, including Royal Jordanian and Etihad Airways, cancelled flights. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Most airlines suspend Beirut flights as Israel ramps up Lebanon attacks

International airlines have canceled flights to the Lebanese capital and Tel Aviv due to intensifying fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon sees biggest wave of displacement since 2006, over 20,000 take shelter in schools

Lebanon is witnessing its largest wave of displacement since the 2006 war amid extensive Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in the country.

Smoke billows from the site of Israeli airstrikes in Aramti, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on Sept. 23, 2024.

On UN summit sidelines, US seeks off-ramp to Israel-Hezbollah conflict

A senior State Department official said Washington had "concrete ideas" to de-escalate the mounting crisis in Lebanon and warned against an Israeli ground offensive.

Debris lie around destroyed vehicles in a street under a residential building whose top two floors were hit by an Israeli strike in the Ghobeiri area of Beirut's southern suburbs on September 24, 2024. A Lebanese security source said on September 24 that an Israeli strike hit Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold, as the Israel army confirmed it carried out the strike in the Lebanese capital without giving further details. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel's 2 goals in Lebanon: Decouple Hezbollah-Gaza, restore deterrence

"Our aspiration is to strike Hezbollah with a force that it has not yet experienced, while remaining below the threshold of regional war or bringing Iran into direct war," a senior Israeli political source told Al-Monitor.

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

Smoke billows from the sites of an Israeli air strike in Lebanon's southern plain of Marjeyoun

World fears Israel-Hezbollah 'spiral of violence'

Agence France-Presse

Residents watch as first responders and Israeli security forces gather amid debris and charred vehicles in Kiryat Bialik in the Haifa district of Israel, following a reported strike by Lebanon's Hezbollah on September 22, 2024. Hezbollah said on September 22 that it targeted military production facilities and an air base near north Israel's Haifa after the Israeli military pounded south Lebanon and said it targeted thousands of rocket launcher barrels. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via

Gallant vows to keep striking Hezbollah as Israel hits hundreds of Lebanese targets

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Israeli citizens that difficult times were ahead as the military continues to target Hezbollah posts while rockets stream from Lebanon.