Lebanon - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Lebanon

Lebanon

August 25, 2025

Beirut 6:28 am

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Lebanese army soldiers are stationed at the Burj al-Barajneh camp for Palestinian refugees in Beirut's southern suburbs on Aug. 21, 2025, as armed Palestinian groups in the refugee camps start handing over their weapons.

Lebanon begins disarming Palestinian factions after refugee camp hands over weapons

Lebanese and Palestinian officials confirmed that the first phase of the disarmament process of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon has begun.

Jordanian King Abdullah II receives Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Amman on Aug. 19, 2025.

Lebanon PM in Jordan as Beirut pushes Hezbollah disarmament, Iran’s influence wanes

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam headed to Jordan following a similar visit by President Joseph Aoun two months ago, as the two countries seek deeper ties.

RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon's PM slams Hezbollah chief for making 'threat of civil war'

Tensions are rising as Lebanon’s government, under pressure from the US, moves forward with a plan to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, right, meets with US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, in Baabda, east of Beirut, July 7, 2025.

Analysis

Lebanon key to Trump plan for turnaround in Middle East

The final "This Week" column reflects on US policy toward Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gaza.

Andrew Parasiliti

By Andrew Parasiliti

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security

Latest News

Iran’s Larijani in Lebanon as Beirut, Tehran spar over Hezbollah disarmament

Iran's Supreme National Security Council chief Ali Larijani (C) speaks to reporters after meeting with Lebanon's parliament speaker in Beirut on Aug. 13, 2025.

Iran security chief visits Iraq, Lebanon as Baghdad weighs pro-Iran militia law

Sudani and Larijani

Lebanon cabinet backs Hezbollah disarmament as US urges year-end deadline

Hezbollah supporters wave the yellow flag of the Lebanese militant group during a parade on motorbikes while people returned to the area to check their homes in Beirut's southern suburbs on Nov. 27, 2024, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect.

Lebanon tasks army with plan to control weapons as Hezbollah rejects disarmament

Lebanese demonstrators march during a gathering to honour the victims of the catastrophic port explosion in 2020 and to call for accountability for the blast, in Beirut on August 4, 2025. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on August 4, vowed justice and accountability five years after a catastrophic explosion at Beirut's port, as the investigating judge finished questioning defendants, a judicial official said. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US envoy Amos Hochstein, Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 4 2024 Credit: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO

In Israel, US envoy Hochstein struggles to defuse tension with Lebanon's Hezbollah

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US envoy Amos Hochstein that Israel is determined to profoundly change the security situation on its border with Lebanon by both diplomatic and military means.

People watch the televised speech of Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah to mark the anniversary of the killing of slain top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, in a Beirut's southern suburb on January 3, 2024. Twin bomb blasts killed at least 103 people in Iran, ripping through a crowd commemorating Revolutionary Guards general Qasem Soleimani four years after his death in a US strike, state media reported. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Germany, Canada urge citizens to leave Lebanon as Hezbollah vows retaliation

Nasrallah again opted to avoid announcing a major escalation with Israel in his speech, but tensions are increasing following the likely Israeli strike that killed a Hamas leader in Beirut.

soldiers at Arouri strike site

Israel-Lebanon border heats up in aftermath of Arouri’s killing

The cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israel and the killing of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut have stoked concerns of a new front in Lebanon.

Senior Fatah official Jibril Rajoub, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, attends by video conference a meeting with deputy Hamas chief Saleh Arouri (on screen from Beirut) discussing Israel's plan to annex parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on July 2, 2020. (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI / AFP) (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Who is Saleh al-Arouri, top Hamas official killed in Beirut?

Saleh al-Arouri played a large political and military role in Hamas, and his death may elicit a strong response from Hezbollah.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

An image of the aftermath of the explosion in southern Beirut on Jan. 2, 2023.

Breaking | Last Updated: January 3, 2024, 10:15 am

Top Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri killed in Beirut as Lebanon-Israel tension soars

Videos of the aftermath of the reported drone strike showed a large impact on cars and residential buildings as the Israel-Lebanon border heats up.

A metal cutout of an Israeli soldier at an army post in Mount Bental near the Syrian border in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on February 9, 2022. - Israel launched strikes against targets in Syria early today, hitting anti-aircraft batteries in response to a missile fired from Syria, the military said. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel launches strikes in Syria, Lebanon, targets 'Hezbollah infrastructure'

The airstrikes near Damascus follow the Christmas Day death of a top Iranian commander in Syria in a strike widely attributed to Israel.

Entrance to the Magen Abraham synagogue in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Aug. 11, 2009.

Passing of leader of Lebanon’s tiny Jewish community comes at heavy moment

The country is now home to 29 Jews, as thousands fled during the civil war in the past century amid rising anti-Jewish sentiment.

AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

How killing of Iran’s IRGC commander in Syria could ignite Israel-Lebanon war

With Hezbollah increasing its missile and drone attacks against Israel’s northern communities, war on the Lebanon border could erupt at any minute.

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

collage 2023

2023 in review: Al-Monitor's special coverage from across Middle East

A protester plants a flag bearing a Lebanese cedar across the fence from an Israeli tank at the Blue Line near the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Shuba, in the Israel-Lebanon border region, June 9, 2023.

2023 in review: Lebanon reels from void, threat of Hezbollah-Israel front

As the country struggled with political and economic crises, border skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah raised the specter of war.

Flames and smoke rise from an agricultural structure in southern Lebanon's Khiam plain following an Israeli bombardment on Nov. 23, 2023.

Analysis

As Hezbollah clashes intensify, Israel pours cold water on Lebanon deal

Hezbollah's increasing provocations give Israel cause for concern, as the country lacks the energy to take on another enemy far more powerful than Hamas.

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

Activists take part in a ceremony marking the second anniversary of the controversial death of Argentinian prosecutor Alberto Nisman on January 18, 2017 in Buenos Aires. Nisman died in mysterious circumstances in January 18, 2015, after accusing Argentina's then president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, of obstructing his investigation of a 1994 bombing at a Buenos Aires Jewish center. / AFP / EITAN ABRAMOVICH (Photo credit should read EITAN ABRAMOVICH/AFP via Getty Images)

US charges Colombian-Lebanese Hezbollah member in Argentina bombing

The US alleged Samuel Salman El Reda helped Hezbollah perpetrate the deadly 1994 attack against a Jewish community center in the Argentinian capital, following sanctions related to the attack earlier this year.