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

Lebanon

Lebanon

September 4, 2025

Beirut 10:06 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

Hezbollah rejects Lebanese delegation at maritime border talks with Israel

Lebanon's two main Shiite parties said the negotiating team in the border talks shouldn't include civilians.

A picture taken on October 14, 2020 shows UNIFIL and Lebanese military vehicles guarding the area near the UNIFIL base (not seen in picture) where Israeli and Lebanese delegtaions were having their first round of talks on the demarcation of the maritime frontier between the two countries, which are technically in a state of war, in the southern Lebanese border town of Naqura on October 14, 2020. - Lebanon and Israel, still technically at war, began unprecedented talks sponsored by the United Nations and the

Israeli, Lebanese delegations meet for maritime border talks

Israel and Lebanon sent technical delegations for the talks today on establishing their maritime border.

Volunteers at the Lebanese Civil Defence work in the the control room at the headquarters of the public emergency service in the capital Beirut, on September 28, 2020. - Sweeping forest fires, a monster explosion that killed friends, then bizarre Beirut blazes: Lebanon's rescuers are still reeling from a devastating year, but are determined to press on. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon receives FBI's report on Beirut port explosion

The US agency conducted an investigation into what led to the devastating August blast.

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS - AUGUST 18: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri gives a statement to the press outside the Lebanon Tribunal on August 18, 2020 in The Hague, Netherlands. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon delivered a guilty verdict against one of four men on trial for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Salim Ayyash was convicted on murder and terrorism charges, however the other three men were acquitted. All four were affiliated with the Shia militant group Hezbollah

Lebanon’s Hariri says he’s 'definitely a candidate' to lead government again

The former Lebanese prime minister resigned last year amid anti-government protests, but now says he is willing to return.

BEIRUT, LEBANON - SEPTEMBER 08: Workers continue to remove debris, damaged cars, and destroyed warehouses from last month's explosion at the Port’s Free Zone on September 8, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon. Lebanon's army says they have found more than four tonnes of ammonium nitrate near the port entrance, the same substance that caused the August 4 blast. Last month's explosion at Beirut's port killed over 200 people, injured thousands, and upended countless lives. (Photo by Haytham Al Achkar/Getty Images)

Lebanon asks Interpol to arrest Russian captain, shipowner after Beirut blast

Lebanese authorities say the cargo ship carried the stockpile of ammonium nitrate to the port in 2013.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a briefing on coronavirus developments in Israel at his office in Jerusalem, on September 13, 2020. - Israel's government announced it would impose a three-week nationwide lockdown in an effort to stem one of the world's highest novel coronavirus infection rates after a surge in cases. (Photo by Yoav Dudkevitch / POOL / AFP) (Photo by YOAV DUDKEVITCH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu and Nasrallah at a standoff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched another verbal confrontation against Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, but is unlikely to opt for a preemptive strike on Hezbollah missiles.

The Tungsten Explorer, an off-shore oil and gas exploration drillship, is seen in the background as people bathe in the Mediterranean water off the coast of Jounieh bay, north of Lebanon's capital Beirut, on May 19, 2020, despite beaches being legally closed due to COVID-19 coronavirus restrictions. - Lebanon gradually started lifting a COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown that has compounded its economic crisis despite an uptick in cases that prompted a four-day lockdown. Across the Mediterranean, a seasonal reco

Israel, Lebanon agree to maritime border talks

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz confirmed today that Israel and Lebanon will open direct talks on demarking their maritime border with US mediation.

This picture taken on September 4, 2020 shows a mural painting depicting a young Lebanese girl who suffered a face injury in the August 4 massive blast at the nearby seaport, one month after the disaster that left scores of people dead or injured and ravaged swaths of the capital Beirut. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)

Beirut blast put 1 in 4 children at risk of missing school

The Aug. 4 explosion in Lebanon's capital damaged 163 schools and left 85,000 students and their families with tough choices.

Rebuilding Beirut to preserve its heritage

Architects and NGOs are deploying efforts to restore the traditional buildings of Beirut that were heavily damaged in the devastating explosion that rocked the capital Aug. 4.

France supports Hariri's proposal to end Lebanon Cabinet standoff

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has suggested the role of finance minister be held by an "independent" Shiite.

TOPSHOT - A Lebanese woman protester walks draped in a national flag along the Fuad Chehab avenue, near the Martyrs' Square, in the centre of the capital Beirut on October 29, 2019 on the 13th day of anti-government protests. - An unprecedented cross-sectarian movement has brought major cities across Lebanon to a standstill since October 17, as protesters keep up demands for a complete overhaul of the political system. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon rocked by another explosion in Hezbollah stronghold

A security source told Reuters that an arms depot belonging to Hezbollah exploded due to a "technical error."

Judges of Bulgaria's specialized criminal court arrive for the final decision for the 2012 bomb attack on Israeli tourists at Bulgaria's Burgas airport that killed five people on September 21, 2020 in Sofia. - A Bulgarian court on September 21, 2020, sentenced two men to life in prison over a deadly 2012 bus bomb attack on Israeli tourists at the country's Burgas airport. (Photo by NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV / AFP) (Photo by NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Bulgarian court sentences two men in bus bombing that killed Israelis

Bulgaria said that two dual citizens of Lebanon were responsible for the Black Sea attack that targeted Israeli tourists in 2012; Hezbollah has denied involvement.