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Lebanon

Lebanon

April 20, 2026

Beirut 8:53 pm

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Jewel SAMAD / AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon-Israel negotiations to continue even as Iran talks stall

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun also said that Lebanon will lead the negotiations and that no other party will take part, emphasizing that this track is separate from any other talks.

Joseph EID / AFP via Getty Images

Who are Lebanon’s main players influencing talks with Israel?

Amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, focus is now on the main political players in Lebanon and their role in shaping or derailing any deal.

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun delivers a speech during a meeting of Pope Leo XIV with authorities, civil society and diplomatic corps at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of the capital Beirut, on November 30, 2025. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP via Getty Images)

Aoun says Lebanon seeks 'permanent agreements' with Israel after White House invite

Aoun says Lebanon is entering a “new stage” of negotiations with Israel focused on “permanent agreements” following a US-brokered ceasefire and a White House invitation extended to both him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Jerusalem on February 26, 2026. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Why Netanyahu caved to Trump on Lebanon and what it means for Israel

Israelis express anger that the prime minister's maneuvering to stay out of jail has allowed the US to once again "hijack" foreign policy and national security decision-making.

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

Latest News

Iran says Strait of Hormuz 'completely open' to ships

MUSCAT, OMAN - MARCH 25: Locals take photos of two bulk carriers anchored at Muscat Anchorage on March 25, 2026 in Muscat, Oman. Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which conveys about 20% of the world's oil and gas, has mostly come to a halt after the joint U.S.-Israeli war with Iran that began on February 28. Iran, in a defiant reply to a ceasefire proposal from the United States, has claimed that sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz "is its natural and legal right." Under international law, t

Trump announces Lebanon-Israel ceasefire, will invite Aoun and Netanyahu to White House

Trump, Rubio speak to Lebanon's president amid push for Aoun-Netanyahu call

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (C) arrives to attend a cabinet session to discuss an army plan to disarm the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, on September 5, 2025. In August, under heavy US pressure and fearing Israel would intensify its strikes, Lebanon's government ordered the army to draw up a plan for disarming Hezbollah by the end of the year. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Interview

Minister warns aid cuts to Lebanon risk empowering Hezbollah

Haneen Sayyed

Haneen Sayyed

Haneen Sayyed

Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs

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

Refugees from southern Lebanon and Beirut are transported to shelters in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 25, 2024.

Lebanon: At least 1,041 killed, nearly 120,000 displaced as Israel hints at ground op

More than 100,000 have been displaced in Lebanon by the recent fighting, leading to an influx into neighboring Syria.

An apartment block stands in partial ruins after being hit by an Israeli airstrike on, Sept. 30, 2024 in Beirut, Lebanon.

Who were Palestinian commanders in Lebanon targeted in latest Israeli strikes?

Israel has frequently targeted Hezbollah commanders and leaders in Lebanon since the start of the cross-border hostilities, as well as members of Palestinian armed groups that joined Hezbollah on the southern front.

LEBANON-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Khiam on September 30, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP) (Photo by RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images)

US boosts defense posture as Blinken urges diplomacy between Israel, Lebanon

The White House is calling for a prioritization of diplomacy despite reports that Israel could be readying for a ground operation in Lebanon.

Israeli army tanks are deployed in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, Sept. 29, 2024.

Analysis

Israel buoyant after killing Nasrallah, mulls risky Lebanon ground invasion

After the killing of the Hezbollah chief, Israeli security chiefs disagree on a potential ground incursion into southern Lebanon.

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

Yoav Gallant

Gallant hints Israel preparing to launch ground offensive in Lebanon

Speaking with soldiers deployed near the border with Lebanon, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hinted that a ground invasion could take place soon.

Head of Hezbollah's Executive Council Hashem Safieddine arrives as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid provided by the Lebanese Shiite group set out for Syria in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Feb. 12, 2023.

Meet Hezbollah’s Hashem Safieddine, Iran’s confidant and likely successor for Nasrallah

Hashem Safieddine is considered close to Hezbollah’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah but is seen as more ruthless and less pragmatic than the late leader of the group.

A Shiite Muslim cleric holds a poster reading "crossing a red line" in Persian next to an image of Hassan Nasrallah, the late leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, during an anti-Israel protest in Tehran's Palestine Square on Sept. 28, 2024, after Hezbollah confirmed reports of Nasrallah's killing in an Israeli air strike in Beirut the previous day.

From Yemen to Turkey, Mideast reacts to death of Hezbollah's Nasrallah

Leaders and groups in the Middle East have reacted to the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed Friday in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut.

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah give a televised speech in a hanger in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh in Lebanon on May 24, 2024, following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran in a helicopter crash.

Who was Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s formative leader killed by Israel?

After decades of leading Hezbollah and overseeing its rise both in Lebanon and in the region, Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut.

Smoke rises above Beirut's southern suburbs during an Israeli strike on September 27, 2024. Israeli bombing of Iran-backed Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon has killed hundreds of people this week, while the militant group has retaliated with rocket barrages. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel says it struck Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut

The strike followed days of intensifying Israeli strikes on Lebanon.

An injured child and others at a school in Beirut housing displaced people who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, Sep. 26, 2024.

At least 700 killed, 120,000 displaced as UN calls Lebanon situation ‘catastrophic'

The ongoing Israeli escalation in Lebanon has displaced nearly 120,000 in less than a week, prompting 16,100 Lebanese to enter Syria.

A man checks the destruction following an overnight Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Shebaa near along the border between the two countries, on Sept. 27, 2024.

Netanyahu softens position, says Israel discussing US-France cease-fire plan in Lebanon

On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will continue battling Hezbollah, but on Friday he indicated Israel will continue talks with the United States over a possible cease-fire in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem on September 2, 2024. (Photo by Ohad Zwigenberg / POOL / AFP) (Photo by OHAD ZWIGENBERG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

From yes to no to maybe: Behind Netanyahu's shifting stance on Lebanon cease-fire

Multifront conflicts are damaging Israel's economy, making a declaration of victory in Gaza by the Israeli prime minister a possibility at the UN.

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