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Lebanon

Lebanon

April 20, 2026

Beirut 10:21 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

A US Patriot missile defense system is exposed during a joint Israeli-US military exercise, "Juniper Cobra," at the Hatzor Airbase in Israel on March 8, 2018.

Israel: Pentagon finalizes $8.7B arms package as strikes on Lebanon continue

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brushed aside the Biden administration's call for a cease-fire just days after Washington quietly released $3.5 billion in additional funds for the Israeli military.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Adshit, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on September 23, 2024. The Israeli military on September 23 told people in Lebanon to move away from Hezbollah targets and vowed to carry out more "extensive and precise" strikes against the Iran-backed group. (Photo by Ammar Ammar / AFP) (Photo by AMMAR AMMAR/AFP via Getty Images)

US, France call for 21-day cease-fire on Israel-Lebanon border

US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said it was time to “give diplomacy a chance to succeed.”

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the Jabal Al-Rehan area in the southern Lebanese Jezzine district on September 21, 2024.

US, UK militaries deploy troops to Cyprus in case of Lebanon evacuation

Washington has not yet authorized an evacuation, but President Joe Biden acknowledged "all-out war is possible" as Israel mobilizes two reserve brigades amid threats of a potential ground incursion to root out Hezbollah.

ETIENNE TORBEY/AFP via Getty Images

US, UK send troops to Cyprus in response to Lebanon crisis: What we know

Western countries have been calling on citizens to depart Lebanon while some Lebanese residents are fleeing to Syria.

IBRAHIM AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

More than 40,000 shelter in Lebanon schools as Israel expands airstrikes

Israeli airstrikes continued in Lebanon for the third day in a row, causing the worst wave of displacement in nearly two decades.

A cloud of smoke erupts during an Israeli airstrike on the village of Sujud in southern Lebanon on Sept. 25, 2024.

Israeli military prepares for possible ground operation in Lebanon

The Israeli military is activating two reserve soldier brigades in what could be part of the preparation for a possible ground invasion into Lebanon.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Marjayoun, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on Sept. 23, 2024.

Analysis

Could Israel's Lebanon assault force Hezbollah withdrawal beyond Litani River?

US and French mediation efforts to reach a deal between Israel and Hezbollah to de-escalate tensions and implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701 have failed so far.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Passengers check their flight times at the Beirut International Airport in Beirut on August 25, 2024, amid escalations in the ongoing cross-border tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. The Beirut airport did not close but some airlines, including Royal Jordanian and Etihad Airways, cancelled flights. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Most airlines suspend Beirut flights as Israel ramps up Lebanon attacks

International airlines have canceled flights to the Lebanese capital and Tel Aviv due to intensifying fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon sees biggest wave of displacement since 2006, over 20,000 take shelter in schools

Lebanon is witnessing its largest wave of displacement since the 2006 war amid extensive Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in the country.

Smoke billows from the site of Israeli airstrikes in Aramti, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on Sept. 23, 2024.

On UN summit sidelines, US seeks off-ramp to Israel-Hezbollah conflict

A senior State Department official said Washington had "concrete ideas" to de-escalate the mounting crisis in Lebanon and warned against an Israeli ground offensive.

Debris lie around destroyed vehicles in a street under a residential building whose top two floors were hit by an Israeli strike in the Ghobeiri area of Beirut's southern suburbs on September 24, 2024. A Lebanese security source said on September 24 that an Israeli strike hit Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold, as the Israel army confirmed it carried out the strike in the Lebanese capital without giving further details. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel's 2 goals in Lebanon: Decouple Hezbollah-Gaza, restore deterrence

"Our aspiration is to strike Hezbollah with a force that it has not yet experienced, while remaining below the threshold of regional war or bringing Iran into direct war," a senior Israeli political source told Al-Monitor.

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

Smoke billows from the sites of an Israeli air strike in Lebanon's southern plain of Marjeyoun

World fears Israel-Hezbollah 'spiral of violence'

Agence France-Presse