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Lebanon

Lebanon

August 17, 2025

Beirut 1:00 pm

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Lebanon's PM slams Hezbollah chief for making 'threat of civil war'

Tensions are rising as Lebanon’s government, under pressure from the US, moves forward with a plan to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, right, meets with US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, in Baabda, east of Beirut, July 7, 2025.

Analysis

Lebanon key to Trump plan for turnaround in Middle East

The final "This Week" column reflects on US policy toward Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gaza.

Andrew Parasiliti

By Andrew Parasiliti

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security

Iran's Supreme National Security Council chief Ali Larijani (C) speaks to reporters after meeting with Lebanon's parliament speaker in Beirut on Aug. 13, 2025.

Iran’s Larijani in Lebanon as Beirut, Tehran spar over Hezbollah disarmament

The visit of Iran’s top security chief Ali Larijani to Beirut comes amid tensions between Lebanon and Iran following the approval of a plan to disarm the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which also rejected the move and vowed not to give up its weapons.

Sudani and Larijani

Iran security chief visits Iraq, Lebanon as Baghdad weighs pro-Iran militia law

Ali Larijani, who was recently appointed to head Iran’s top security body, has embarked on visits to Iraq and Lebanon as Baghdad faces US pressure to contain Iranian-backed groups.

Latest News

Lebanon cabinet backs Hezbollah disarmament as US urges year-end deadline

Hezbollah supporters wave the yellow flag of the Lebanese militant group during a parade on motorbikes while people returned to the area to check their homes in Beirut's southern suburbs on Nov. 27, 2024, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect.

Lebanon tasks army with plan to control weapons as Hezbollah rejects disarmament

Lebanese demonstrators march during a gathering to honour the victims of the catastrophic port explosion in 2020 and to call for accountability for the blast, in Beirut on August 4, 2025. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on August 4, vowed justice and accountability five years after a catastrophic explosion at Beirut's port, as the investigating judge finished questioning defendants, a judicial official said. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

5 years after Lebanon's port explosion: Can Beirut find accountability?

A picture shows a metal installation set up across from the destroyed Beirut port silos during a gathering to honour the victims of the catastrophic port explosion in 2020 and to call for accountability for the blast, in Beirut on August 4, 2025. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on August 4, vowed justice and accountability five years after a catastrophic explosion at Beirut's port, as the investigating judge finished questioning defendants, a judicial official said. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP) (Photo by JOSE

Lebanon’s cabinet to discuss Hezbollah disarmament as US ups pressure

TOPSHOT - A person holds a sign with the Arabic slogan "we will not relinquish arms" as Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah supporters take part in a ceremony during the peak of Ashura, a 10-day period commemorating the seventh century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein, in Beirut's southern suburbs on July 6, 2025. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

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

Senior News Editor

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional geopolitics, China in the Middle East

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

The deputy chief of Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Qassem, delivers a speech during a rally in Beirut on Oct. 13, 2023.

Hezbollah’s new leader says group to fight 'for months' as US proposes 60-day Lebanon cease-fire

Naim Qassem’s speech coincides with escalating Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon, as the US scrambles to secure a cease-fire deal.

Members of the UNIFIL patrol the southern Lebanese Marjayoun district, near the border with Israel, on Oct. 16, 2024.

Eight UNIFIL peacekeepers injured in southern Lebanon rocket attack

Eight Austrian soldiers belonging to the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission were injured by a rocket strike in southern Lebanon, which UNIFIL said was likely fired by Hezbollah.

Naim Qassem

What Naim Qassem's ascension as Hezbollah leader means for Iran, Lebanon

Unlike other prominent Hezbollah figures, Naim Qassem is not particularly close to Iran and lacks Nasrallah's charisma.

KAWNAT HAJU/AFP via Getty Images

Tyre, Lebanon's ancient city, bombarded by Israeli airstrikes

Israeli airstrikes are pounding ancient Tyre in southern Lebanon.

A car marked "Press" at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area where a number of journalists were located in the southern Lebanese village of Hasbaya, Oct. 25, 2024.

Israeli strike kills three journalists in Lebanon, drawing condemnations

Media workers in Lebanon have been subjected to killings and threats from the Israeli military since Israeli-Hezbollah hostilities began last year.

An Airbus A350 plane of Qatar Airways from Doha parks after it landed at Berlin's airport "Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt", during the opening of the southern runway of the airport, in Schoenefeld, southeast of Berlin, on November 4, 2020. - Passenger flights are to began landing on October 31, 2020 at Berlin's new international airport, a moment many Germans thought they might never see after years of embarrassing delays and spiralling costs. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) (Photo by ODD ANDERSEN/AF

Qatar Airways suspends Iran, Lebanon flights, joining growing list of airlines

Amid conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, few airlines are operating in and out of Tel Aviv, and fewer still in and out of Beirut and Tehran.

International press conference in support of Lebanon, in Paris, on Oct. 24, 2024.

Paris conference for Lebanon secures $1B in humanitarian, military aid

The countries participating at the Paris conference for Lebanon pledged $800 million in humanitarian aid and $200 million for the Lebanese armed forces.

France s President Emmanuel Macron receives Lebanon s Prime Minister Najib MIKATI before their bilateral meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France on October 23, 2024. Context of war between Lebanon and Israel, extension of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, solidarity with lebanese people, the two men shake hands on the stoop at the top of the steps and look towards the photographers. (Photo by Amaury Cornu / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP) (Photo by AMAURY CORNU/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)

Mikati says Lebanon ready to deploy 8,000 troops to border if Israel cease-fire reached

The announcement came during an aid conference organized by France to support Lebanon and its civilian population affected by the ongoing Israeli war.

France s President Emmanuel Macron receives Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati before their bilateral meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on Oct. 23, 2024.

France seeks 3 objectives at Lebanon conference in Paris, aims to raise $400M

The Lebanon conference set to take place in Paris on Thursday will focus on raising financial aid and rallying the international community behind efforts for a cease-fire.

US special envoy Amos Hochstein leaves after his meeting with Lebanon's Parliament Speaker (not pictured) in Beirut on August 14, 2024, amid regional tensions during the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

US envoy Hochstein’s document for Israel-Lebanon cease-fire: What we know

According to a report by the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper, the US envoy presented a document that includes several amendments to UN Resolution 1701 as a proposal to end the war in Lebanon, which Lebanese officials have repeatedly refused to change.

The Pentagon again postponed a key test of its troubled "THAAD'''' anti-missile defense rocket, seen this file photo, due to a commercial power failure, the Defense Department said. (photo by Lockheed Martin)

Exclusive

Inside US-Israel understanding to reward Netanyahu for not targeting Iran’s oil fields

The Israeli government might agree to refrain targeting Iranian oil sites in exchange for a security package offered by the Biden administration.

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

Ambulances and paramedics carry people wounded in an Israeli bombing of Beirut to Sahel Hospital.

Lebanon evacuates Beirut hospital as Israeli strikes expand

Lebanon on Monday evacuated its Sahel Hospital after the Israeli military alleged that Hezbollah stores cash and gold amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in a bunker beneath it.