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Lebanon

Lebanon

June 25, 2026

Beirut 3:29 am

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A picture shows the four seasons hotel in Beirut with the snow covered mountain of Sannine in the background on March 8, 2019.

Explainer

Lebanon advances controversial $500K golden visa law: What to know

While its supporters say the scheme would help Lebanon's economy recover, critics say it could offer a channel for corruption.

Lebanese army forces deploy in the village of Bir al-Salasel in southern Lebanon on June 15, 2026. Iran's foreign ministry on June 15 said the US must ensure that Israel commits to stopping the war in Lebanon under a deal agreed upon with the US to end the Middle East war. Lebanon was pulled into the conflict in early March when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader, prompting Israeli strikes and a ground invasion. (Pho

Analysis

Pilot zones at center of Israel-Lebanon talks as Trump pressures Netanyahu

With the fifth round of talks set to begin Tuesday, Israel is prepared to withdraw from at least one “pilot zone,” allowing the Lebanese army to take control of the area.

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

Latest News

Analysis

As US reshapes Lebanon strategy, Israel finds itself sidelined

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, Lebanon, on June 9, 2026.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

US, Iran to form 'deconflicting cell' on Lebanon, sidelining Lebanese state

Cars drive past billboards showing Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei (L) and his late father Ali Khamenei (R), with the slogan "Thank you, loyal Iran," erected along the highway leading to Rafik Hariri International Airport, Beirut, Lebanon, June 22, 2026.

Syria’s Sharaa says he had ‘multiple discussions’ with Trump on Lebanon, favors dialogue

US President Donald Trump meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in the Oval Office, Washington, DC, Nov. 10, 2025.

Analysis

How Netanyahu used Lebanon strikes to push back on Trump’s Iran deal

US President Donald Trump holds a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Palm Beach, Florida, Dec. 29, 2025.

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

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY RIMA ABUSHAKRA A general view shows the Sursock Museum in Beirut on June 27, 2008. Gemmayzeh boasts some of Beirut's most magnificent mansions owned by the Sursock family. The Sursock Museum was once a private home built in 1912 and now is host to an impressive permanent art collection. The house had a splendid garden that kept it apart from its closest neighbour, also another Sursock mansion. But recently the garden was razed to allow for the construction of a 25-storey apartment bl

Beirut re-brushed

Despite Lebanon's political and security challenges, Beirut is witnessing an upsurge in the art scene with established and new museums exhibiting Arab artworks.

Palestinian Fatah members march during a parade at Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp, southern Lebanon, to mark the 46th anniversary of founding the Fateh movement, December 31, 2010. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON - Tags: ANNIVERSARY CIVIL UNREST) - RTXW41O

Palestinian factions maintain fragile stability in Sidon camp

Although Salafist fugitives have found refuge in Ain al-Hilweh, competing Palestinian factions appear intent on maintaining stability in the refugee camp.

Palestinian women walk in an alley in Shatila refugee camp near Beirut May 23, 2007. The Lebanese army is trying to crush Fatah al-Islam, a militant group led by a Palestinian but with little or no support among Lebanon's Palestinian refugee population of 400,000. Dozens of people have died in three days of fighting. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON) - RTR1Q072

Florence Massena on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Florence Massena shares her thoughts on journalism.

A woman looks on as she sits amongst displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, who are sleeping on the ground at Bajed Kadal refugee camp, southwest of Dohuk province August 23, 2014. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR43FCQ

Maya Gebeily on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Maya Gebeily shares her thoughts on journalism.

Arab artists depict violence in their paintings

Many Arab artists — Lebanese, Syrian and Iraqi — have been inserting terrorism and violence into their paintings, to show the world the suffering of the Arab peoples.

Lebanese news photographers work during a protest against the forced closure of media institutions on Friday by Hezbollah gunmen and its allies in Beirut May 10, 2008. The Shi'ite movement Hezbollah tightened its control of the Lebanese capital on Saturday in a show of force after it routed gunmen loyal to the western-backed government. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON) - RTX5JNR

Mona Alami on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Mona Alami shares her thoughts on journalism.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry listens during the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism at the State Department in Washington February 19, 2015. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW RELIGION CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4QA6N

Why Lebanon skipped anti-terror meeting in Washington

Lebanon decided not to attend the international summit on counterterrorism in Washington when certain Lebanese parties, such as Hezbollah, balked at cooperating with Israel, among other issues.

Rebel fighters gather near the front line in Ratain village, north of Aleppo February 17, 2015. The Syrian army backed by allied militia have captured several villages near Aleppo in battles aimed at encircling the northern city and cutting off insurgent supply lines, a monitoring group said on Tuesday. The army also took villages including Bashkuwi and Sifat, while fighting raged in Hardatain and Ratain, said the Observatory, which tracks the Syrian conflict using sources on the ground. It added that at le

Syrian regime, allies lose decisive battles in Aleppo

The regime and its allies have suffered heavy losses in an offensive against the opposition’s largest stronghold in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

A man works in a field of cannabis at Hermel, Bekaa July 31, 2013. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ranked Lebanon in 2011 as one of the world's top five sources of cannabis resin. In recent years, security forces have sent tractors, bulldozers and armoured vehicles to plough up, flatten or burn the cannabis crops, leading to clashes with farmers armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Dramatic as they were, those shows of force by authorities achieved only partial success in a

Drug use creeps up in Lebanese schools

Despite warnings circulating online about a new drug quickly spreading in Lebanese schools, experts say that while the issue deserves attention, drug abuse among students is not as widespread as the rumors suggest.

A general view shows Roumieh prison, in Roumieh January 12, 2015. Lebanese forces stormed the country's largest prison on Monday where Islamist militants are detained, security sources said, as authorities searched for those behind a double suicide attack at the weekend. Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk headed to Roumieh prison east of Beirut early on Monday and told Reuters the crackdown came after intelligence showed some of the inmates were connected to the bombings, which killed eight. REUTERS/Mohamed A

Lebanon holds IS at bay, for now

The failure of the Islamic State’s plan to control territory and create an emirate in Lebanon bodes well, says a Lebanese security official who claims that Lebanon has clamped down on the major three terrorist hotbeds in the country.

Men take down a picture of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in the mainly Sunni Beirut neighbourhood of Tariq al-Jadideh February 5, 2015. Lebanon has begun removing political posters and party banners from neighbourhoods of the capital in a move to unify a country still divided from a civil war, following an agreement between the militant and political Hezbollah party and its rivals. Picture taken February 5, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY) - RTR4OHK4

Hezbollah, Future Movement find 'delicate stability' for now

The dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement continues despite the limited results it has yielded so far.

A man holds a mock Qassam rocket during a rally organised by Lebanese and Palestinian supporters of the Islamist movement Hamas and the Islamic Group, Jamaa Islamiya in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza strip where Hamas is engaged in a major confrontation with the Israeli army on July 11, 2014 in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon. Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike, raising the toll in four days of violence to 100, Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. AFP PHOTO / MAH

Is Hamas planning a strike from Lebanon's refugee camps?

A senior Hamas leader's call to open new fronts against Israel from Lebanon was neither confirmed nor denied by the movement, raising questions about the possibility of forming cells on the ground.