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Lebanon

Lebanon

May 12, 2025

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Commuters drive past a newly-installed billboard bearing the image of a Lebanese flag and a statement that reads in Arabic "Lebanon a new era", replacing a Hezbollah billboard, on the road leading to Beirut's Rafic Hariri International airport on April 10, 2025. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon's first municipal elections in nearly 10 years: What to expect

The elections come amid seemingly shifting political dynamics in the country after the Israel-Hezbollah 13-month war that ended late last November.

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa upon arriving for a meeting at the Elysee presidential palace, Paris, May 7, 2025.

Exclusive

Skepticism shrouds Syria-Israel indirect talks with bets on Sharaa

Sources told Al-Monitor that shortly after Sharaa visited the UAE last month, an unofficial meeting between Syrian and Israeli delegations took place at an Abu Dhabi villa owned by an Emirati government official.

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

Qusayr

Lebanese, Syrian forces raid Captagon labs along border: What to know

The neighboring countries have stepped up their fight against the production and smuggling of Captagon, which had flourished in the border area during the Assad regime and Hezbollah’s dominance.

Lebanese soldiers inspect the site near a burnt-out vehicle reportedly hit by an Israeli strike in Ghazieh, near Sidon, on April 18, 2025. Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike on April 18 hit a vehicle near the southern coastal city of Sidon, killing one person. Despite a November 27 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has continued to carry out near-daily strikes in Lebanon. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP) (Photo by MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/A

Can new US general advance Hezbollah disarmament in Lebanon?

The Pentagon has assigned a new general to oversee the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire as the Trump administration continues to pressure the Beirut government to hasten the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Latest News

UAE lifts Lebanon travel ban, signals support for $11B reconstruction in sign of thaw

UAE/LEBANON

On first state visit, Aoun lauds UAE-Lebanon ties, says 'past behind us'

Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, April 20, 2025.

Lebanon's Aoun heads to UAE seeking economic support, reconstruction aid

France s President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Lebanon s President Joseph Aoun during an official visit of the President of Lebanon, at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on March 28, 2025. (Photo by Magali Cohen / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP) (Photo by MAGALI COHEN/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey rank in top 20 global military spenders: What to know

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

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

Black smoke billows following an Israeli air strike that targeted a house in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the Lebanese-Israeli border on June 21, 2024.

What’s behind Arab League decision to drop Hezbollah terror label?

The move comes as the region is boiling in light of the war in Gaza and the escalating conflict between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel.

Smoke rises from an Israeli strike against a Hezbollah target on June 25, 2024 in Khiam, Lebanon. Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been trading cross-border fire since the October 7 attacks, with the conflict escalating in May when the group launched a missile-carrying drone against Israel for the first time. The conflict intensified in June when Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israeli military sites following the killing of senior commander Taleb Abdullah. This marked t

As Lebanon braces, four scenarios for Hezbollah's confrontation with Israel

As US officials press their leverage to prevent an Israeli war inside Lebanon, fears of a miscalculation have grown in the last few weeks as both Hezbollah and the Israeli military intensify their clashes.

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.

India, Jordan join chorus of countries warning against travel to Lebanon

The fighting between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel has escalated in recent days, prompting several countries to recommend against travel to Lebanon due to concerns over a war breaking out.

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon holds airport tours to dispel weapons report amid Israel-Hezbollah tension

Lebanon has responded to a report that Hezbollah is moving weapons through its international airport with a tour for foreign diplomats and journalists.

CORRECTION / Smoke plumes rise from a fire in a field after rockets launched from southern Lebanon landed near Kela in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on June 13, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) / "The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Jalaa MAREY has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [Kela] instead of [Katzrin]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all you

Salvo of rockets fired from Lebanon into Israel as Cyprus responds to Hezbollah

Hezbollah fired a new round of rockets on Israel hours after its leader warned Cyprus against military coordination with Israel if war breaks out with Lebanon.

US special envoy Amos Hochstein (L) meets with Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut on June 18, 2024 amid continuing tensions on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

In Lebanon, Hochstein calls for 'urgent' end to Israel-Hezbollah escalation

US special envoy Amos Hochstein met with the army commander and other top officials in Beirut to discuss the cross-border escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, one day after his trip to Israel.

Lebanese army forces deploy near the US Embassy after a Syrian man was arrested following a shooting near the embassy, Beirut, Lebanon, June 5, 2024.

Do Lebanon's US Embassy attack, border clashes signal rise in extremism?

While armed groups are becoming more active in Lebanon in the wake of regional tensions resulting from the Gaza war, some believe the country is not prone to rise of extremism.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on Zibqin in southern Lebanon on June 12, 2024.

Hezbollah-Israel clashes intensify as fears grow of all-out war in Lebanon

The situation on the Israel-Lebanon border is worsening, all while US efforts to reach a cease-fire in Gaza have yet to lead to a deal.

Lebanese army chief General Joseph Aoun (C-back) arrives at an operational command post in the eastern town of Ras Baalbek, on August 23, 2017.

Pentagon hosts Lebanon’s army chief in bid to avert Israel-Hezbollah war

The Biden administration wants the Lebanese Armed Forces to deploy near the Israel-Lebanon border to help defuse a potentially explosive conflict with Hezbollah. But first, Lebanon's top general needs to be able to pay his soldiers their salaries.

RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images

Hezbollah fires 160 rockets at Israel after senior commander killed

Hezbollah launched more than 160 rockets at north Israel in response to the death of the most senior commander in the Lebanese group killed since the cross-border hostilities began in October.

A visitor looks at portraits of late Franco-Lebanese film director Maroun Baghdadi and pictures from his movies at the venue of an exhibition dedicated to his memory in Beirut on December 12, 2023, as Lebanon commemorates the 30th annivesary of his death in an accident at the age of 43. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon's resistance through culture: Return of Beirut’s Metropolis Cinema

As Beirut continues to navigate its path toward recovery, Metropolis Cinema stands as a symbol of the enduring power of art and culture to resist, unite and inspire.

DANIEL DORKO/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon's military chief heads to US amid rising Israel-Hezbollah tension

The visit coincides with escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah on the border and a foiled attack on the US Embassy in Lebanon.