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

Lebanon

Lebanon

September 6, 2025

Beyrouth 9:21 am

28°C

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (C) heads a cabinet session to discuss an army plan to disarm the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, on Sept. 5, 2025.

Lebanon to move on Hezbollah disarmament after testy cabinet meeting: What to know

The Lebanese government is under mounting pressure to disarm Hezbollah, but the group’s allies in the government are not on board.

Lebanese soldiers stand guard outside an army base in the southern city of Tyre, on Aug. 28, 2025.

Analysis

Lebanon army mum on Hezbollah disarmament plan ahead of split cabinet meeting

As the Lebanese army scrambles to finalize a crucial plan for disarming Hezbollah, officials have been engaged in intense diplomacy to avoid internal confrontations and move ahead with the disarmament process.

Beatrice Farhat

By Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

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.

Latest News

Analysis

Attack, concede, stall: Hezbollah’s options as Lebanon advances disarmament plan

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.

Dario Sabaghi

By Dario Sabaghi

UN Security Council renews Lebanon peacekeeping mission for one year

unifil

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.

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

A woman watches as rescue workers gather at damaged building in Lebanon's capital Beirut, in search of possible survivors from a mega-blast at the adjacent port one month ago, after scanners detected a pulse, on September 4, 2020. - Lebanese rescuers scoured rubble for a possible survivor in Beirut after the detection of a pulse drew crowds hopeful of a miracle one month on from a devastating explosion. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanese ask 'Should I stay or should I go' under pressures to rebuild

The pressures to rebuild Lebanon, to endure harsh working and living conditions and the fear of another tragedy add an inconceivable burden to people trying to make it in industries fraught with their own challenges.

Lebanon's newly-appointed Prime Minister Mustapha Adib (C) visits Beirut's badly-hit Gemmayzeh neighbourhood, on August 31, 2020. - Lebanon's under-fire political leaders designated a new prime minister, the diplomat Mustapha Adib, to tackle the country's deep political and economic crisis, hours before French President Emmanuel Macron was due to visit. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon taps diplomat Mustapha Adib as next prime minister

The country's ambassador to Germany has promised to immediately implement government reforms.

Lebanese Army soldiers roll away a flaming tire from the fence surrounding the local branch of the Banque du Liban (Lebanese Central Bank) as protesters gather to demonstrate against dire economic conditions in the northern city of Tripoli on June 11, 2020. - The Lebanese pound sank to a record low on the black market on June 11 despite the authorities' attempts to halt the plunge of the crisis-hit country's currency, money changers said. Lebanon is in the grips of its worst economic turmoil in decades, and

Lebanon-IMF talks make little progress despite bank collapse

The Lebanese ruling elite is still bargaining over the economic reforms required by the International Monetary Fund, while the country’s economic situation continues to go downhill.

Lebanese Army soldiers roll away a flaming tire from the fence surrounding the local branch of the Banque du Liban (Lebanese Central Bank) as protesters gather to demonstrate against dire economic conditions in the northern city of Tripoli on June 11, 2020. - The Lebanese pound sank to a record low on the black market on June 11 despite the authorities' attempts to halt the plunge of the crisis-hit country's currency, money changers said. Lebanon is in the grips of its worst economic turmoil in decades, and

Lebanon's central bank to take over banks that cannot boost capital

The central bank is giving Lebanese banks until February to increase their capital by 20% or give their shares to the government amid fears that people's deposits are at risk.

Child dies in sectarian firefight near Beirut

Hours of fighting in a town south of Beirut left at least two dead and several injured.

A picture taken from the northern Israeli kibbutz of Manara on August 26, 2020 shows United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) patrolling along the border with Israel in the southern Lebanese village of Houla. - Israel said it had launched air strikes against Hezbollah observation posts in Lebanon after shots were fired from across the border towards its troops the previous evening. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel retaliates after Hezbollah shoots at IDF from Lebanon

Israel is worried that a security incident late Aug. 25 on the border fence with Lebanon means that Hezbollah intends to escalate tensions.

This picture taken on August 19, 2020 shows a view of the landmark Le Gray hotel in the centre of Lebanon's capital Beirut overlooking the Martyrs' Square, as a banner is hung across its facade reading in English "Stay strong! Together we shall riise once again, see you soon", and a giant Lebanese national flag hung over the facade of the neighbouring building, in the aftermath of the monster blast that ravaged the city earlier in August. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon returns to lockdown after post-explosion surge in virus

The country has registered all-time highs in daily new COVID-19 cases following the massive Aug. 4 explosion.

Israel calls out Hezbollah on tribunal decision

Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the verdict in the Rafic Hariri case clearly shows Hezbollah’s responsibility for the murder.

Lebanese public health crisis includes trauma, mental health after explosion

The Lebanese people, already reeling under tough economic, social and political conditions, face another public health crisis after the explosion on Aug. 4 in Beirut.

A photograph taken on March 12, 2020 shows a bar on Gouraud street in the Lebanese capital Beirut's Gemayzeh district, known for its bustling nightlife, empty, after measures were taken in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Beirut’s club scene gets creative in wake of blast

Lebanon's nightlife is key to its economy and spirit.

A man rides a motorbike past a billboard bearing a picture of slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, on a street in his southern hometown city of Sidon (Saida), on August 18, 2020. - On February 14, 2005, the former Premier, who embodied the reconstruction of the country after its 1975-1990 civil war was killed in a monster bomb attack on his convoy. The special tribunal trying the four suspects accused of the assassination is expected to deliver its verdict today. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP) (Phot

UN tribunal says Syrian government, Hezbollah not involved in Hariri assassination

Some supporters of the slain prime minister protested the verdict in Beirut on Tuesday.

A United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) armoured vehicle is parked under a portrait of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on a side road in the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Kila near the border with Israel on January 3, 2020. - Following this morning's killing of Iranian commander, Major General Qasem Soleimani, Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement called for the missile strike by Israel's closest ally, to be avenged. "Meting out the appropriate punishment to these criminal assassins... wil

Israel files grievance against Hezbollah as UNSC retools UNIFIL

Israel and the United States are campaigning for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon's mandate to be revised, empowering the force to eject Hezbollah from south Lebanon.