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

Lebanon

Lebanon

September 2, 2025

Beirut 10:25 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

The Libera tanker is moored off the port in Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 17, 2021.

Will Iranian fuel solve fuel crisis in Lebanon?

Lebanese economists do not see any benefit from the Iranian fuel shipments that recently entered Lebanon, with support from Hezbollah, amid the worsening fuel crisis in the cash-strapped country.

Marwan Tahtah/Getty Images

Arrest warrant issued for ex-minister over Beirut blast

Youssef Fenianos, Lebanon's former public works and transportation minister, had reportedly failed to appear for questioning before the judge.

Beirut explosion protest

Survivors, rights groups call for UN to investigate Beirut blast

The joint letter with 145 signatories called on the UN Human Rights Council to heed the call of survivors and launch an independent, international probe of the blast.

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

Lebanese energy plan includes Syria

A meeting of Jordanian, Egyptian, Lebanese and Syrian ministers seems to have cracked Syria's isolation.

AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon forms new government

The formation of a new government led by Prime Minister Najib Mikati brings to an end a 13-month gridlock in Lebanon.

A Syrian refugee walks past the rubble of demolished concrete walls at a make-shift camp in the town of Rihaniyye in Lebanon's Akkar governorate on Aug. 9, 2019.

Lebanon won't deport six detained Syrian refugees

Five of the six men are from Syria's Daraa province, where government forces and rebels have clashed in recent months.

Lebanese soldiers are pictured at a petrol station in the capital Beirut on Aug. 14, 2021, after soldiers were deployed to force several stations to reopen their doors.

Egypt, Jordan, Syria agree to export gas to crisis-stricken Lebanon

Syria also agreed to transfer Jordanian electricity to Lebanon, while Iran already sent fuel.

Michel Aouon

Lebanon's president calls for UN action after Israeli strikes

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said recent Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah violated Lebanon's sovereignty.

Taliban, imam at Kabul mosque

Will the Taliban welcome al-Qaeda back to Afghanistan?

Afghanistan's economy is hanging by a thread; Iran makes the best of the Taliban; the "resistance" finds inspiration; five must reads on Afghanistan.

Civil Defense personnel monitor a wildfire burning through hills on July 28, 2021, in Qobayat, Lebanon.

Fires in northern Lebanon caused by high temperatures, winds

Lebanon has experienced several wildfires this summer, as have other countries in the region.

Demonstrators gather outside the port of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, on the first anniversary of the blast that ravaged the port and the city on Aug. 4, 2021.

Lebanese commemorate Beirut port explosion anniversary with statue, music

Activists and families of the victims of the deadly Beirut port blast have criticized a statue that was erected at the explosion site, saying they need to get to the truth behind the explosion before holding any memorial.

Relatives of fuel tank burn victim anguished at Tripoli hospital

Fuel crisis roils Lebanon

Lebanon's fuel crisis is killing people, and hospital patients could be among the next victims.