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

Lebanon

Lebanon

September 4, 2025

Beirut 3:45 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

TOPSHOT - Lebanese anti-government protesters clash with security forces near the Serail (headquarters of the Governorate), in the northern port city of Tripoli, during a demonstration to protest against the economic situation, on January 28, 2021. - Tripoli was already one of Lebanon's poorest areas before the coronavirus pandemic piled new misery onto a chronic economic crisis. Many of its residents have been left without an income since Lebanon imposed a full lockdown earlier this month in a bid to stem

Angry Lebanese protest ongoing lockdown amid looming poverty

Many Lebanese are growing more concerned about how to make ends meet as the country edges more toward economic collapse, made worse by the coronavirus pandemic and a complete lockdown.

Protests in northern Lebanon against virus-related lockdowns turn deadly

Lebanon's 24/7 lockdown has angered people in Tripoli amid a crippling economic crisis, and clashes have left hundreds injured and at least one dead.

Popular Lebanese music streaming platform Anghami moving to Abu Dhabi

The Beirut-based company said they failed to attract investment in Lebanon amid the financial crisis.

Lebanon: Interpol issues warrants for people involved in Beirut port explosion

Lebanese state media said the international police organization has issued Red Notices for the owner and captain of a ship that brought tons of ammonium nitrate to Beirut years before last August's tragic explosion.

Lebanon declares 24-hour curfew, state of emergency

The round-the-clock curfew will take effect at 5 am on Thursday and last until Jan. 25.

The usually crowded seaside promenade is deserted, during a lockdown imposed by the authorities in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus, in the Lebanese capital Beirut, on January 7, 2021. - Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Lebanon has recorded nearly 200,000 cases including 1,537 deaths, according to health ministry figures.
Health professionals have warned that the latest surge in cases risked causing catastrophe across Lebanon, which is already suffering from the aftermath of a devastati

Lebanon returns to lockdown as virus cases spike

The lockdown, which runs through Feb. 1, mandates an overnight curfew and the closure of most businesses.

A picture shows a closed shop in the city of Jounieh north ofBeirut on December 01, 2020. - Lebanon's economy is sinking into a "deliberate depression", the World Bank said on December 1 in a damning report stressing the authorities' failure to tackle the crisis. Lebanon's economy started collapsing last year as a result of years of corrupt practices and mismanagement. The crisis was made worse by a nationwide wave of anti-government protests that paralysed the country late last year and the Covid-19 pandem

Lebanon to enter new national lockdown Thursday

An overnight curfew and other restrictions will run through Feb. 1.

Lebanese men watch the head of the country's Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah during a televised speech, at a coffee shop in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, on August 30, 2020, on the tenth day of the month of Muharram which marks the peak of Ashura. - Ashura is a 10-day period of mourning in remembrance of the seventh-century martyrdom Imam Hussein, who was killed in the battle of Karbala in modern-day Iraq, in 680 AD. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Ge

Nasrallah says Hezbollah would not be part of Iran nuclear talks

The Shiite party's leader also said Hezbollah has doubled its missile supplies.

Israeli military vehicles near the kibbutz Manara in northern Israel's upper Galilee patrol along the border with Lebanon overlooking the Hula Valley, on December 20, 2020. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

US offers to mediate as Israel, Lebanon remain 'far apart' on maritime border talks

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lamented the lack of progress between the two countries on their Mediterranean border.

Lebanon passes law criminalizing sexual harassment

Lebanese lawmakers broadened what constitutes domestic violence but did not specifically outlaw marital rape.

A man walks past a shop in the main commercial market at the Lebanese coastal city of Jounieh north of Beirut on December 01, 2020. - Lebanon's economy is sinking into a "deliberate depression", the World Bank said on December 1 in a damning report stressing the authorities' failure to tackle the crisis. Lebanon's economy started collapsing last year as a result of years of corrupt practices and mismanagement. The crisis was made worse by a nationwide wave of anti-government protests that paralysed the coun

Lebanese citizens see no relief as economic downturn worsens

Amid plans to lift subsidies and private universities’ decision to raise tuition fees, the Lebanese people continue to suffer under the country’s crumbling economy with no end in sight.

Lebanese activist sentenced to prison for collaborating with Israel

Kinda El-Khatib, a critic of Hezbollah on social media, was sentenced to three years in prison by a military court.