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Lebanon

Lebanon

June 27, 2025

Beirut 1:06 pm

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Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday held a phone call with billionaire businessman and former senior figure in the Trump administration Elon Musk, during which the two discussed the potential of Musk entering Lebanon’s telecom and internet sectors. What happened: A statement from the Lebanese presidency said that in their phone call, Musk “expressed his deep interest in Lebanon and its telecommunications and internet sectors.” Musk also expressed his desire for his companies to “have a presence

Elon Musk calls Lebanon’s Aoun, signals plans to bring Starlink to Beirut

A senior Starlink official met with Joseph Aoun last month for ongoing talks on bringing the technology to Lebanon.

A picture of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is held aloft at a rally on Enghelab (Revolution) Square, Tehran, June 14, 2025.

Hezbollah vows loyalty to Khamenei as Iran-Israel war approaches week 2

The group publicly defended the Iranian leader as some worry Hezbollah might retaliate against Israel for its attack on Iran, its main ally and supporter.

Ground staff prepare a Middle East Airlines flight for departure on the tarmac at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on May 2, 2025.

From Lebanon to Qatar, Israel-Iran war disrupts flights, airport traffic: What to know

Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines canceled all flights to Iraq through Thursday as the ongoing Israel-Iran war forces widespread disruptions across Middle East aviation.

Lebanese Minister of Economy Amin Salam (R) vists the port of the capital Beirut, as a corner of the silos which were destroyed in a massive explosion on August 4, 2020, burns on July 14, 2022. - The fire at the port's blast-hit grain silos, at risk of collapse due to severe damage, ignited at the start of the month because of fermentation of remaining grain stocks paired with rising temperatures. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon arrests fmr economy minister Amin Salam on embezzlement charges

The arrest comes nearly a year after the former central bank chief was arrested on charges of embezzlement and money laundering, among other things.

Latest News

EU commission removes UAE, adds Lebanon and Algeria to money laundering list: What to know

A woman looks on from Creek Harbout at the Dubai skyline with Burj Khalifa, the world's largest building (C) on Feb. 5, 2025.

United Arab Emirates

With UNIFIL under attack, Lebanon says 500 arms depots dismantled

Peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) ride in armoured vehicles during a patrol along the border with Israel by the village of Kfar Kila in south Lebanon on June 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

In photos: Muslims kick off Eid al-Adha across the Middle East

Muslim worshippers make their way towards the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque complex in in the holy city of Mecca to take part in morning prayers on the first day of Eid Al-Adha, the feast of the sacrifice, early on June 6, 2025.

Israel strikes Beirut, targeting underground Hezbollah drone facilities

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike targeting the southern suburbs of Beirut, Nov. 23, 2024.

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

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.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Jibbain, July 11, 2024.

Israel fires at Lebanese army in south, strikes southern Syria

An escalation in northern Israel and southern Lebanon has raised fears of an all-out war amid warnings that such a conflict could expand to the rest of the region.

BERLIN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 15: Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib speaks to the media following talks with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on December 15, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. The two diplomats discussed mutual measures to prevent the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict from expanding to other regions, among other issues. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Interview

Lebanon FM warns of 'devastating’ regional war if Israel escalates campaign against Hezbollah

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Lebanon's top diplomat, Abdallah Bou Habib, adds that security in the south ultimately depends on a strong Lebanese army and an agreement on the border – not war.

Abdallah Bou Habib

Abdallah Bou Habib

Lebanon Foreign Minister

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Hezbollah drones critically wound one in Israel

The risk of war is growing by the day as Israel and Hezbollah escalate their attacks.

A flag bearing portraits of (L-R) slain Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Hezbollah military leader Imad Moghniyeh, and Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, flutters after a raising ceremony by Lebanon's Hezbollah supporters and members on a hill facing the Israeli northern town of Metula by the border with Lebanon, on January 3, 2021, to mark the first anniversary of the killing of Soleimani and al-Muhandis in a US drone strike. (Photo by Ali DIA / AFP) (Photo by ALI DIA/AFP via Get

Hezbollah airs drone footage of Israeli military sites in Golan Heights

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated in recent weeks, including with the Israeli killing of one of the Iran-backed group’s commanders.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah meets with Hamas deputy leader Khalil al-Hayya in Lebanon, July 5, 2024.

Hezbollah, Hamas delegations meet in Beirut as Gaza cease-fire talks resume

Hezbollah hosted a Hamas delegation in Beirut as Gaza cease-fire talks reconvened in Qatar.