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

Lebanon

Lebanon

September 2, 2025

Beirut 12:59 am

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The Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun (left), receives Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the Baabda Presidential Palace, on Sept. 1, 2025.

Lebanon faces tough test as army pushes plan to seize Hezbollah weapons

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam discussed preparations for a cabinet session due this week that will tackle an army plan to take control of weapons outside of the state’s authority.

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Israel cautious on Lebanon withdrawal despite Netanyahu overtures, US push

The Trump administration is pressuring Netanyahu to make concessions to the Lebanese government in exchange for its efforts to disarm Hezbollah.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem delivers a statement during a ceremony to honor the Shiite cleric Abbas Ali Al-Moussawi, who passed away the week prior, Beirut, Aug. 25, 2025.

Analysis

Attack, concede, stall: Hezbollah’s options as Lebanon advances disarmament plan

Despite mounting US pressure on the government to disarm the Shiite group, its leader, Naim Qassem, says it will not surrender its weapons.

Dario Sabaghi

By Dario Sabaghi

unifil

UN Security Council renews Lebanon peacekeeping mission for one year

The compromise vote gives Lebanon's army buffer time to meet US demands to fill security vacuum in the country's south before a planned withdrawal of UN peacekeepers in 2027.

Latest News

Lebanon's army receives 8 truckloads of weapons from Palestinian camps

MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanese PM meets Egypt’s Sisi amid Hezbollah disarmament push: What to know

Lebanon's new Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam delivers a statement at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, on Jan. 14, 2025.

Lebanon’s ex-Central Bank chief to be released on $20M bail: What to know

AFP via Getty Images

Canada: Montreal port tied to Hezbollah car trade, presence in Americas

A truck with a container leaves the Port of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on August 1, 2025. US President Donald Trump unveiled new tariffs on July 31 on nearly 70 countries -- including a blistering 35 percent on neighbor Canada -- as he seeks to reshape global trade to benefit the US economy. However, in a minor reprieve that opens the door to further negotiations, the White House said the measures will take effect in a week for most countries, not Friday as previously expected. (Photo by ANDREJ I

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

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser al-Sabah attends a parliament session at the national assembly in Kuwait City on Aug. 18, 2020.

The Takeaway: Kuwait takes lead in Gulf effort to solve Lebanon crisis

Egypt, Iran, Iraq water crises; China and the Horn of Africa; Turkish pop queen under fire; Egypt’s Temple of Millions; and more … in less than 1,300 words.

Lebanon's Energy Minister Walid Fayad (C) during the signing of a deal that will supply Lebanon with electricity, in Beirut on Jan. 26, 2022.

Lebanon signs new electricity deal with Jordan, Syria

A previously announced agreement to export Egyptian gas to Lebanon has yet to come to fruition.

Israeli navy vessels patrol the Mediterranean waters off the coast of Rosh Hanikra, an area at the border between Israel and Lebanon (Ras al-Naqura), as indirect talks on maritime borders between the two countries, still technically at war, resume under UN and US auspices, on May 4, 2021.

Israel says maritime talks with Lebanon to resume next week

The Israel Energy Ministry said talks would resume with its longtime foe over natural gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.

A man sorts through discarded electric devices at a scrap workshop in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli on June 3, 2020.

Economic meltdown drives some Lebanese to collect recyclables for a living

Lebanon’s increasing poverty and lack of jobs drive desperate people to live off of selling collected recycled materials in kilos to scrapyards, shops and manufacturers.

The US Department of Treasury building is seen in Washington, DC, early on Jan. 12, 2022.

US Treasury sanctions Hezbollah financial network in Lebanon

A US Treasury official says the department is targeting Hezbollah's "misuse of the international financial system" to raise funds for terrorism.

NICOLAS MAETERLINCK/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images

UN agency seeks urgent support for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

The UNRWA said $87.5 million in new funding is needed to continue operations in crisis-ravaged Lebanon.

A Hezbollah flag flies in the foreground as a member of the Spanish contingent of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) stands in a lookout tower on Oct. 2, 2008 near the southern Lebanese village of Abbassiyeh near to the disputed Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms area.

US sanctions Hezbollah's alleged financial facilitators in Lebanon

The US Treasury Department designated Adel Diab, Ali Mohamad Daoun and Jihad Salem Alame as well as their travel company.

Buses block a road leading to Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport during a strike by public transport and workers unions over the economic crisis, on Jan. 13, 2022.

Lebanese minister seeks economic boost with Iraq visit

George Boushekian visited Baghdad this week to seek cooperation with his Iraqi counterparts and facilitate business deals between Iraqi and Lebanese entities amid Lebanon's economic crisis.

Lebanese wait to fill their gas cylinders in the southern city of Sidon amidst a deepening economic crisis, on Aug. 10, 2021.

US alleviates Lebanon's sanctions concerns over energy deal

US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea provided a Treasury Department letter that addressed concerns over the energy plan's potential to violate sanctions on Syria.

A Lebanese woman walks past closed stores in the northern city of Tripoli on Feb. 25, 2020.

Economic meltdown revives forgotten occupations in Lebanon

Occupations that disappeared over time, most notably that of cobbler and tailor, have been revived due to the decline in citizens’ purchasing power.

A city sightseeing bus is pictured parked outside Beirut's landmark Mohammad al-Amin mosque on May 20, 2019.

Lebanon campaigns to revive tourism amid economic crisis

Several campaigns such as the "Give Lebanon a Break" one launched by the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar sparked widespread criticism from the Lebanese, who believe it has nothing to do with their reality and the economic collapse of the country.

Solar panels are seen above the river bed in Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 12, 2015.

Lack of electricity drives sustainability options in Lebanon

With Lebanon’s deepening electricity crisis and fuel shortage, many homes and businesses have switched to solar panels to generate electricity due to widespread power cuts from the country’s unpredictable energy sector.