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Lebanon

Lebanon

April 21, 2025

Beirut 8:07 pm

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Pope Francis is welcomed at Presidential Palace on Feb. 4, 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Middle East churches, Al-Azhar, leaders mourn Pope Francis

Pope Francis was praised by several regional leaders and churches, including Lebanon's Maronite Church and Iraqi officials, who noted his historic visit to Iraq in 2021.

Teargas fumes erupt during clashes between supporters of the Lebanese Shiite Islamist movement Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army amidst a Hezbollah-organised rally to block the road to Beirut International Airport over a decision to bar two Iranian flights from landing there, in Beirut on February 15, 2025. An AFP correspondent said tear gas was fired to disperse crowds on February 15 after again blocking amidst calls by the Iran-backed group for a sit-in. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP) (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO/

Analysis

Under US pressure, can Lebanon disarm Hezbollah without Iran's green light?

The issue of Hezbollah’s disarmament resurfaces amid US pressure, shifting regional dynamics, and Iran's decisive role.

Dario Sabaghi

By Dario Sabaghi

Lebanese army troops patrol the destroyed southern border village of Adaisseh, following the Israeli forces withdrawal on February 18, 2025. Lebanon's army said it deployed in southern border villages and areas vacated by Israeli troops on February 18, as a withdrawal deadline expired under a truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP) (Photo by MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon's army expands presence, dismantles 500 Hezbollah sites: What to know

The Lebanese army intensified its deployment in southern Lebanon, dismantling Hezbollah positions and confiscating weapons as part of a US-brokered ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Gal Gadot

'Snow White' banned in Lebanon, Kuwait over Israeli star Gal Gadot

Lebanon's government banned Disney's latest film for its inclusion of Israeli actress Gal Gadot while countries like the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan plan to show the movie.

Latest News

Lebanon’s Aoun visits Doha as Qatar, France send military support

Aoun

Lebanon’s PM Nawaf Salam makes first Syria visit, meets Sharaa as border tensions loom

Sharaa

Lebanon grills former security chiefs over Beirut port blast: What we know

A general view shows the northern collapsed section of the silos in the Port of Beirut, on Aug. 23, 2022 in Beirut, Lebanon.

Lebanon's Hezbollah ready to talk 'defense strategy' amid calls to disarm

A protester holds a framed portrait of Hassan Nasrallah.

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

11/24/2023 Tehran, Iran. Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are wearing Palestinian scarves and carrying handheld anti-tank grenade launchers as they participate in the Ela Beit Al-Moghaddas (Al-Aqsa Mosque) military rally in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Hossein Beris / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by HOSSEIN BERIS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Frantic diplomacy, flight disruptions as Middle East braces for Iran attack on Israel

US President Joe Biden is meeting with his national security team in the White House on Monday as concerns of an attack by Iran and its regional proxies against Israel grow.

US Central Command Cmdr. Gen. Michael Kurilla speaks at the 18th IISS Manama Dialogue, Manama, Bahrain, Nov. 19, 2022.

CENTCOM chief heads for Israel as country prepares for Iran attack

US Central Command Commander Michael Kurilla has arrived in the Middle East in efforts to coordinate with Israel and other countries against an expected attack by Iran.

AARON SCHWARTZ/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Lufthansa, Delta among several airlines to cancel Israel flights

The region is on edge following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Israel’s assassination of a Hezbollah military leader in Lebanon.

Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defence system over the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel, on July 15, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel runs several scenarios, prepares for attacks by Iran, Hezbollah

Israeli security experts estimate that Iran will opt for a coordinated attack with Hezbollah, but will try to avoid an all-out war.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Hezbollah fighters carry the flag-draped coffin of slain top commander Fuad Shukr during his funeral in Beirut's southern suburbs on August 1, 2024. Hezbollah on August 1 mourned Shukr, whose body was recovered from the rubble of a July 30 Israeli strike in south Beirut that also killed five civilians, three women and two children, and injured dozens, according to Lebanon's health ministry, as fears mounted of a wider conflict in the region. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via G

Hezbollah chief says war with Israel in 'new phase,' vows 'real response' to Shukr's killing

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said the group and its allies will respond to the killing of commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, warning that the battle has now entered a new phase.

Fuad Shukr in an undated photo

Analysis

Who is Fuad Shukr, senior Hezbollah military official targeted by Israel in Beirut?

The US government accuses Shukr of playing a key role in the 1983 bombing of US Marines in Lebanon, and he was a significant figure in Hezbollah's military apparatus, according to an expert.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

🚨 [#Picture] Photos of the aftermath of the strike on Haret Hreik sent to L'Orient Today by Hassan Chaitani, local resident in the area.

Israel confirms killing senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut strike

An Israeli drone strike hit the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, on Tuesday, as tensions run high following a rocket strike in the Golan Heights over the weekend.

Smoke billows from a site targeted by the Israeli military in the southern Lebanese border village of Kafr Kila, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters, July 29, 2024.

Strikes in south Lebanon, Syria as Israel's northern front heats up

The situation in Lebanon is at a boiling point amid growing fears of an Israeli retaliatory strike to a deadly rocket attack in the Golan Heights that could lead to a wider regional conflict.

Passengers departure from Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on July 29, 2024. Airlines suspended flights to Lebanon on July 29, as diplomatic efforts were underway to contain soaring tensions between Hezbollah and Israel after deadly rocket fire in the annexed Golan Heights. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

White House says Lebanon war not 'inevitable' as Israel preps Hezbollah response

US troops in Iraq and Syria are bracing for potential blowback from local militias ahead of anticipated Israeli retaliation against Hezbollah for a lethal rocket attack on a Druze village in the Golan Heights.

TOPSHOT - Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese border village of Chihine on July 28, 2024. Fallout from the Gaza war is regularly felt on the Israel-Lebanon frontier, where deadly cross-border exchanges have escalated between Israeli troops and mainly Hezbollah fighters. (Photo by KAWNAT HAJU / AFP) (Photo by KAWNAT HAJU/AFP via Getty Images)

Flight disruptions, panic in Lebanon amid efforts to avoid all-out Israel-Hezbollah war

The cross-border exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah have continued following the deadly rocket strike in the Golan Heights, which prompted Israeli threats to launch a wider response in Lebanon.

Israeli security forces leave in a helicopter near a site where a reported strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams village in the Israeli-annexed Golan area on July 27, 2024. Israel's emergency medical service Magen David Adom said at least nine people were killed and 34 wounded including 17 in critical condition, after a rocket fired from Lebanon had hit the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon braces for Israeli response to Hezbollah as US urges restraint

A state of panic has spread across Lebanon, fearing a harsh blow from Israel after the Majdal Shams attack. Saudi Arabia, France, Norway and Sweden have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible and Hezbollah, bracing for an imminent attack by Israel, has already evacuated some key sites.

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

In Ashura speech, Hezbollah chief warns Israel against invading Lebanon

This year, the Shiite holiday comes as the region is boiling amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.