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Lebanon

Lebanon

September 2, 2025

Beirut 9:18 pm

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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

An aerial view shows Lebanon's capital, Beirut, in darkness during a power outage on April 3, 2021. As Lebanon battles its worst financial crisis in decades, the local currency has lost more than 85% of its value on the black market. Even the country's once richest city council says it is struggling to maintain its streets, as the economic squeeze puts pressure on already rundown infrastructure.

Lebanon loses some electricity after Turkish company ceases operations

Karpowership said they stopped providing electricity to crisis-stricken Lebanon due to 18 months of no payments.

Men parade with a model of a rocket with "Qassam Brigades" (Hamas armed wing) written in Arabic, during a demonstration called by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the southern Lebanese city of Saida late on May 11, 2021.

IDF claims three rockets fired from Lebanon toward Israel

Lebanese media reported that Palestinian groups in the country launched the rockets, which landed in the sea.

Hezbollah marchers

US sanctions 7 over Hezbollah finances

The sanctions indicate continued US pressure on the Lebanese organization under US President Joe Biden.

Beirut food basket

Lebanese parties distribute food baskets as economy continues to sink

Lebanese parties are distributing aid and food baskets to people suffering under difficult economic and social conditions but at the same time are ignoring the root of the crisis.

French President Emmanuel Macron (2nd-L) and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (3rd-L) meet with UN representatives and NGOs mobilized for the reconstruction of Beirut port, on Sept. 1, 2020. Macron pressed his "risky" drive for political change in Lebanon, as the former French mandate marked its centenary while teetering on the brink of the abyss.

French FM visits Lebanon to send message of ‘great firmness’ to bickering politicians

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian met with President Michel Aoun, who briefed him on the stalled efforts to form a government.

A picture shows heaps of metal scraps from the rubble of destroyed structures at the port of the Lebanese capital Beirut, on April 9, 2021, still reeling from the destruction due to a catastrophic blast in a harbor storage unit last August that killed more than 200 people and damaged swathes of the capital.

German company removes dangerous material from Beirut port

The Lebanese government is also seeking satellite images other countries have of the Beirut port explosion site.

Lebanon's parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) meets with US envoy David Schenker (C) and US Ambassador to Algeria John Desrocher (L) in Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 15, 2020.

US to send mediation team for Israel-Lebanon maritime talks next week

The resumption of talks, which stalled in November, could unlock significant economic benefits for debt-ridden Lebanon.

Pope Francis speaks about the situation in Lebanon as a Lebanese priest (R) holds Lebanon's flag and Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza (L) looks on during the pope's limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican on Sept. 2, 2020.

Pope may visit Lebanon once new government is formed

Pope Francis met Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri in Vatican City today.

Tuk-tuks are lined up in the village of Bir Elias, Aug. 8, 2020.

Tuk-tuks become common sight in Lebanon's streets amid economic crisis

Amid the devastating economic crisis and the deteriorating living conditions in Lebanon, many have replaced their vehicles with tuk-tuks to run errands, work or deliver goods.

AFP via Getty Images

US ready to facilitate Lebanon-Israel maritime border talks

Undersecretary for Political Affairs David Hale said the United States is willing to mediate resumed talks between the hostile neighbors.

Erin Schaff/Getty Images

State Department sends official to Beirut as stalemate drags on

Undersecretary for Political Affairs David Hale is the highest-ranking US official to visit Beirut under the new administration.

Putin and Aoun

What’s Moscow's game plan for Lebanon?

With the worsening of the Lebanese crisis, Russia will have to take a closer look at Lebanese affairs to protect its assets in Syria.