Lebanese president provokes outcry with Hezbollah comment

President Michel Aoun stated in an interview that Lebanon needs Hezbollah’s arms to defend the country from potential Israeli aggression, stirring harsh criticism from his political opponents.

Israel

Will Hezbollah join Palestinian factions in confrontation with Israel?

Amid calls to unify fronts between Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, experts envision many difficulties in this possibility of coordination.

Palestine

Benghazi blowback hamstrings US role in post-IS Iraq

Congress is weighing America's role after Mosul amid looming budget cuts and paralyzing partisanship.

Iraq

Graphic novel illustrates life of Syrian refugees in Lebanon

A French NGO launched a project, with the help of five artists from Syria, Lebanon and France, to publish a graphic novel on the financial, emotional and social struggle of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Lebanon

Is Lebanon on the path to decriminalizing homosexuality?

Education and awareness seem to be the solutions to creating a society and legal system that are more tolerant toward the LGBT community in Lebanon.

Lebanon

How Iran-Saudi rapprochement is impacting Lebanon

Iran has been hinting at potential rapprochement with Saudi Arabia for quite some time now, and in Lebanon, historical rival parties are showing signs of consensus as well.

Saudi Arabia

Radical sheikh still wields influence from Lebanese prison

A suspect in the failed Jan. 21 suicide attack on a Beirut coffee house has reportedly admitted to being a homegrown terrorist aligned with the Islamic State and a follower of Salafist Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir.

Lebanon

Hezbollah torn between local, regional roles

In light of the raging regional crises, Hezbollah has been intervening outside Lebanon's border in support of its foreign allies in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, raising controversy inside the country about the movement’s local and regional influence.

Lebanon

Lawyers struggle to pursue legal action over trash burning in Lebanon

Even though trash burning is illegal in Lebanon, judges have failed to hold municipal heads accountable for allowing the burning of waste.

Lebanon

Will Iraq succeed in bringing Iran, Saudi Arabia closer?

Iraq has been stepping up its mediation efforts to achieve a Saudi-Iranian reconciliation amid a conducive political and economic environment.

Legacy: Gulf

After Aleppo victory, what's next for Hezbollah?

With recent military victories in the Syrian war, Hezbollah has consolidated its political power and influence in Lebanon as well as in the greater region.

Lebanon

Is Turkey’s shift on Assad beginning of the end of Syria’s war?

Turkish deputy prime minister says "we just have to work with what we have"; no sectarian divide in Aleppo; the Syrian Kurdish fault line.

Lebanon