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

Lebanon

Lebanon

August 25, 2026

Beirut 4:34 pm

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Lebanese Presidency

Large UAE delegation set to arrive in Lebanon in major investment push

A large Emirati delegation of around 70 business leaders and government officials is heading to Beirut, in the latest sign of thaw between the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.

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.

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

(L to R) Director-General of Syria's General Petroleum Corporation Nabih Khrestin.

Egypt-Lebanon gas deal awaits US decision on Syria sanctions

A State Department spokesperson said the administration will review the final contracts and financing terms to address any sanctions concerns.

A woman takes a photograph of another standing in front of a wall of cement blocks, set up by Lebanese security forces to bar a street leading to the parliament building, Beirut, Lebanon, Jan. 24, 2020.

Lebanon elects record number of women to parliament

Lebanon has one of the highest overall gender gaps in the world, ranking 145 out of 153 countries.

JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images

As Lebanon’s electricity crisis deepens, water becomes scarcer

Despite its natural water resources, Lebanon has reached a crisis point, with many residents unable to afford clean water.

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon's opposition lawmakers start work in chaotic first session

In their first session, Lebanon's newly elected opposition legislators found themselves immediately swamped in the quagmire of Lebanese politics.

This picture taken on March 28, 2022, shows a view of Mufti Hassan Khaled School in Lebanon's capital.

Culture

Lebanon’s economic crisis threatens education sector

Lebanon’s education sector, once prized throughout the Middle East as a regional leader, has been witnessing an irreversible mass exodus with hundreds of professionals in the teaching sector leaving.

Light Your Street

Culture

Rebirth Beirut brings nightlife back to Lebanon’s iconic Gemmayzeh

NGO Rebirth Beirut has brought 24-hour power back to Lebanon’s beloved nightlife district, hoping to encourage visitors and businesses to return.

Mohammed Khier, head coach of Alsama cricket club, with cricketer Aya Fakhri Diab during practice in Al Marj camp.

Culture

Teenage Syrian refugees in Lebanon find cricket a welcome distraction

Cricket is emerging as a tool for social transformation and improving Syrian refugees’ education.

An exterior view of the building of the US Department of the Treasury is seen on March 27, 2020, in Washington, DC.

US sanctions network of Hezbollah businessman in Lebanon

The Treasury Department designated Ahmad Jalal Reda Abdallah and several of his associates and companies based in Lebanon and Iraq.

A demonstrator clad in a mask colored with the Lebanese flag.

Lebanese hope for change in May 15 parliamentary elections

Despite furstration with Lebanon's established political leaders and parties, opposition groups have yet to present a strong, unified alternative.

An illustration picture taken in London on Dec. 30, 2021, shows an NFT.

Lebanese artists explore NFTs

The adoption of NFT art in Lebanon seems to be a milestone for artists.

AFP via Getty Images

Beirut blast families fight to keep ruined silos up until justice served

Families of the victims and activists say the Lebanese government is in an undue hurry to bring down a massive symbol of the 2020 Beirut port explosion and the negligence behind it.

Medics wait on the pier as soldiers search for survivors off the coast of Tripoli, after an overloaded migrant boat capsized during a chase by naval forces, Lebanon, April 24, 2022.

Lebanon's impoverished citizens take to sea from Tripoli

Amid the crippling economic and social crises in Lebanon, dozens set off from the shores of impoverished Tripoli, before their boat capsized leaving six dead and many more missing.