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

Lebanon

Lebanon

October 12, 2025

Beirut 2:50 pm

26°C

Lebanese Presidency/AFP via Getty Images

Syria’s FM pays Lebanon first official visit since Assad’s fall: What to know

Lebanon and post-Assad Syria are seeking to rebuild their relations by addressing longstanding issues that caused tension between the two countries for decades.

The chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces, Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, meets with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani in Doha, Oct. 8, 2025.

Lebanon army chief visits Qatar amid push to disarm Hezbollah

Haykal has held meetings with the Qatari army chief, the country’s prime minister and its minister of state for defense affairs.

Newly elected Miss Lebanon Perla Harb poses on stage after winning the Miss Lebanon 2025 pageant, in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut, on Oct. 4, 2025.

Culture

Miss Lebanon 2025 crowned in ceremony highlighting culture, heritage

Lebanon crowned Perla Harb as the country’s new beauty queen in a grand ceremony highlighting Lebanese culture.

Lebanese army soldiers and security forces deploy near a vehicle that was hit by a reported drone-strike at the entrance of the village of Barja, about 30 kilometres south of Beirut, on Sept. 9, 2025.

US approves $230M for Lebanon’s push to disarm Hezbollah

New US funds for Beirut signal rare bipartisan approval for progress by Lebanon's security forces as they dismantle Hezbollah weapons caches, but significant risks remain as the militant faction resists full disarmament.

Latest News

Culture

Lebanese play explores struggle between exile and staying in Lebanon

An image of “Tarboush Jedde Maallak”.

Lebanon seizes $1.5M in cocaine at Beirut airport: What to know

A photo taken during a tour organized by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Works and Transport shows staff loading cargo onto a plane at Beirut's international airport on June 24, 2024.

Won’t shove it 'down our throats': Netanyahu blasts Palestine recognition in UN speech

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 26, 2025 in New York City.

Analysis

A year after Israel's pager attack, can battered Hezbollah rebound in Lebanon?

Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah group take part in a gathering in Beirut on Sept. 17, 2025.

Beatrice Farhat

Adam Lucente

By Beatrice Farhat , Adam Lucente

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 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.

US Envoy Amos Hochstein (C) speaks with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit (L) and Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) in Beirut on October 21, 2024. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

US envoy Hochstein says 1701 'not enough' to end Israel war in Lebanon

US special envoy Amos Hochstein is in Lebanon for talks on a formula that would put a stop to the war in Lebanon, after Israel reportedly presented new conditions for a cease-fire.

A displaced Bangladeshi woman and her child sit inside their makeshift shelter on the seaside promenade in the Biel area of Beirut, Oct. 17, 2024.

Feature

Migrant domestic workers abandoned in Lebanon as Israel's war expands

Tens of thousands of workers are thought to be surviving in makeshift shelters and on the streets, deserted by their employers during the Israeli escalation.

Nicole Di Ilio

By Nicole Di Ilio

A woman walks past destroyed buildings in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the besieged Palestinian territory, October 17, 2024.

Analysis

With Sinwar gone, will Israel and Iran settle for deal in Gaza, Lebanon?

While some argue leveraging the Hamas leader's death to end the Gaza war and obtain the hostages' release, the Israeli prime minister may now have even bigger plans — for Lebanon and Iran.

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

JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images

Gulf governments silent as Iran, proxies mourn Hamas' Yahya Sinwar

Regional governments have not commented on Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s killing by Israeli forces in Gaza, but Iran and its proxy groups mourned his death, vowing that the resistance against Israel will continue.

Palestinian youths inspect a fallen projectile after Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel.

Analysis

Israel lowers expectations on Iran strikes with eye on US election

Israeli leaders insist that a retaliatory strike against Iran is on its way, but reports say the attack could be a limited one and will focus on military targets.

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

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Hezbollah launches rocket attacks on central Israel after deadly Haifa strike

Hezbollah has launched several rocket and drone attacks at Israel in the past two days.

UNIFIL-armored vehicles patrol at the entrance of the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura near the border with Israel, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters, June 17, 2024.

EU foreign affairs chief Borrell condemns Israel over UNIFIL incident

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell demanded that Israel explain Friday’s incident, where a post of UNIFIL in southern Lebanon was damaged and two soldiers injured.

People fleeing from Lebanon arrive on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon in Jdeidat Yabus in southwestern Syria on September 25, 2024. Human Rights Watch warned on September 25 that Israeli strikes on Lebanon were putting civilians "at grave risk", urging an international investigation into hostilities in the country and in northern Israel. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Feature

With Lebanon under Israeli bombardment, over 200,000 flee to war-torn Syria

With land travel now stymied due to Israeli shelling, desperate, hungry and tired civilians are making the arduous journey on foot to the Syrian border in hopes of finding temporary safety.

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

BEIRUT, LEBANON - OCTOBER 11: Emergency workers stand on rubble at the site of an Israeli airstrike on October 11, 2024 in Beirut, Lebanon. At least 22 people died, and over 100 were injured, in the strike in central Beirut last night, according to Lebanese officials. Israel said the target was a high-ranking Hezbollah official. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Feature

'Hard to just breathe': Mental health crisis grips Lebanon amid Israel's war

Years of political instability, economic collapse, and now war have taken a toll on mental health in Lebanon and among the Lebanese diaspora, with increased cases of anxiety, depression and possible PTSD.

Rodayna Raydan

By Rodayna Raydan

In Boqaata, reporting on culture

YOAV LEMMER/AFP via Getty Images

WFP to send aid ship to feed displaced in Lebanon

The UN food agency is raising the alarm over food insecurity and a harsh winter in the Levant as the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon continue.