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

Lebanon

Lebanon

September 2, 2025

Beirut 3:22 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

Lebanese army troops take part in a military parade held at the Defence Ministry in Yarzeh on the eastern outskirts of Beirut on Nov. 22, 2021.

Lebanon and Iraq ink defense cooperation agreement

Lebanese Defense Minister Maurice Sleem is in Iraq for an official visit.

Zaynab Razzouk, head of the animal protection NGO Carma, plays with a paralyzed dog at the shelter in the area of Koura, north of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on April 3, 2020.

Economic meltdown in Lebanon leaves pets homeless

In Lebanon's ongoing economic collapse, hundreds of cats and dogs are thrown into the streets every month.

Lebanon gas

Egypt ready to pump gas to Lebanon

While Syria says the Arab Gas Pipeline on its territory is set and ready, Egypt announces that it is ready to export natural gas to Lebanon in the first quarter of 2022.

Lebanese arriving to Cyprus

Will Lebanon’s economic crunch stir demographic change?

The emigration of Lebanese, especially Christians, raises concerns in Lebanon in terms of the demographic change that it may lead to, in light of the economic crisis that the Lebanese have been experiencing for nearly two years.

Members of the Abi Haidar family depart from Beirut International Airport on their way to Cyprus, Lebanon, Sept. 2, 2021.

Lebanese opt for new emigration destinations amid crises

Lebanon is witnessing one of the biggest waves of emigration in its history as the country faces its worst socio-economic conditions amid a worsening political crisis; Turkey, Armenia and Georgia have become new destinations.

JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon's elderly population devastated by crash

As one of the 16 countries in the world that don’t offer social security, older people in Lebanon are spending their last years struggling and depending on aid groups to survive.

George Kordahi, the Lebanese minister of information whose comments on Yemen sparked a row with Gulf countries that has crippled the government for weeks, holds a press conference in Beirut on Dec. 3, 2021 to announce his resignation.

Lebanon's information minister resigns amid Gulf row

George Kordahi's resignation comes a day before French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia.

The usually crowded seaside promenade is deserted during a lockdown imposed by authorities in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus, in the Lebanese capital Beirut, on Jan. 7, 2021.

Lebanon announces curfew for unvaccinated amid Omicron concerns

For three weeks beginning Dec. 17, those without at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose or a recent negative PCR test will be subject to a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Haytham Al Achkar/Getty Images

Russia sends satellite images of Beirut port explosion to Lebanon

Lebanese and Russian officials also discussed upgrading a Russian oil terminal in the Beirut port during a meeting in Moscow.

Lebanon protest

Families of Lebanese arrested for Beirut blast demand their release

Several customs and port officials have been arrested and held in prison in relation to the deadly explosion, but nobody has been convicted.

(L to R) Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Ghait, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali al-Hakim and Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Hossam Zaki attend the Arab Foreign Ministers 153rd annual meeting at the Arab League headquarters, Cairo, Egypt, March 4, 2020.

Arab League says talks in Lebanon 'starting point' amid Gulf rift

Hossam Zaki, the Arab League’s deputy chief, also offered to travel to Saudi Arabia to help mediate the diplomatic row.

IBRAHIM CHALHOUB/AFP via Getty Images

Economic meltdown hits Lebanese funeral industry

With the economy in tatters, many Lebanese are struggling to afford basic funeral services.