Lebanon War

Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images

Israel pushes deeper into Lebanon as Iran envoy refuses to go: What to know

Israeli forces have reportedly reached the banks of the Litani River as part of a plan to set up a buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) is joined by Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and other officials for a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (not pictured) at the Pentagon, July 9, 2025.

Dermer’s return puts Netanyahu’s 'brain' at center of US-Israel calculus

Dermer, former Israeli strategic affairs minister, is considered one of Netanyahu’s closest associates, having worked together for over two decades.

A Hezbollah flag is seen in a destroyed car after an Israeli airstrike in Nabi Chit (Al-Nabi Shayth), Lebanon, on March 26, 2026. In the first week of March, the Israeli army carried out an unsuccessful nighttime commando operation there to recover the remains of Ron Arad, a pilot missing since 1986, triggering airstrikes and destruction in the area that forced residents to flee their homes. (Photo by Fabio Bucciarelli / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Displacement and dissent: Hezbollah’s war with Israel splits Lebanon’s Shiites

The renewed Israel war against Hezbollah in Lebanon has divided the Shiite community, with some still backing the group as resistance against Israel’s expansionist vision and others refusing to pay the price of foreign conflicts.

Karim Safieddine

By Karim Safieddine

In Beirut, reporting on politics

FADEL itani / AFP via Getty Images

In Lebanon, deadline looms for expelling Iran envoy amid Hezbollah pushback

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry’s decision to expel the Iranian ambassador to Beirut has exposed deep divisions among the political class as Iran-backed Hezbollah remains engaged in a war with Israel.

Latest News

Iranian ballistic missile intercepted over Lebanon, US Embassy feared as target

Lebanese soldiers stand at the site where, according to Lebanese authorities, fragments from a missile interception fell in the town of Sahel Alma, north of Beirut, on March 24, 2026. Explosions rocked several areas north of Beirut that have so far been spared in the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah war, according to residents and local media, with a military official saying the blasts likely came from an intercepted Iranian missile. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel hedges, intensifies Iran and Lebanon strikes ahead of Trump talks

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the eastern outskirts of the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on March 24, 2026. Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war when Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel has since launched strikes across Lebanon, killing at least 1,039 people and displacing more than a million others, and sent ground troops into the country's south. (Ph

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Lebanon expels Iranian ambassador as war tensions mount

Iran’s ambassador to Beirut, Mohammad Reza Sheibani (L), shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in an undated photo.

Lebanon scrambles to contain tensions over displacement as Israel ups threats

Displaced families set up tents along Beirut's waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 10, 2026, after fleeing recent Israel-Hezbollah hostilities.

France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) wearing sunglasses shakes hands with Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam prior to their meeting at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, on January 23, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Narrow opening: Can Lebanon’s push for talks shift Israel’s war calculus?

Although Israel, for the moment, refuses to halt military operations in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah as rocket and missile strikes continue, sources say Israel is nevertheless leaving the door open to negotiations.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Lin Jian

China to send aid to Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan as Trump delays Beijing summit

The aid announcement comes as President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his late March visit to China would be postponed.

A flag of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah flutters above the rubble of a building that was hit in January by an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese village of Qannarit, on Feb. 16, 2026.

Kuwait arrests 16 over alleged Hezbollah links, including 14 nationals

Lebanon pledged its full cooperation with Kuwait after the arrests and praised the Gulf state's actions.

An Israeli self-propelled howitzer artillery gun fires rounds toward southern Lebanon from a position in the upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border on March 15, 2026.

Is Israel planning a buffer zone in Lebanon or will it go beyond Litani?

A primary Israeli concern, per reports, is that Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force commando units could infiltrate the border to attack northern Israeli communities.

A man looks at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 12, 2026.

Lebanon summons Iran envoy over Hezbollah-IRGC attacks: What to know

The move comes after Hezbollah launched over 200 rockets toward Israel, just as Iran fired a barrage of missiles, triggering a violent Israeli escalation in Lebanon.

Smoke and flames rise at the site of airstrikes on an oil depot, Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026.

Analysis

Running out of time: Israel escalates Iran strikes as Trump weighs ‘elegant exit’

The Israeli military is pushing for more strikes on Iran before the window of opportunity closes, when US President Trump decides to end the war.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike targeted an area in Beirut's southern suburbs on March 7, 2026. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon releases Hezbollah members on $20 bail as Israel escalates attacks

Hezbollah members who were arrested in Lebanon last week were released on a nominal bail under pressure from the group.

Plumes of smoke rise from the sites of Israeli airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 3, 2026. The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on March 3, including warning residents in two southern Beirut neighbourhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of an imminent operation. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP via Getty Images)

After Israel's ultimatum, Lebanon orders arrest of Iran IRGC members

The Lebanese government has instructed military and security agencies to arrest IRGC members in Lebanon, after Iranian-backed Hezbollah joined the conflict between Iran on the one hand and the US and Israel on the other, by launching attacks against Israel.

TOPSHOT - Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 3, 2026. The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on March 3, including warning residents in two southern Beirut neighbourhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of an imminent operation. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

Israel advances in south Lebanon as army withdraws, Quds leader killed

Israel said it killed Reza Khazaei, chief of staff of Hezbollah’s Lebanese Corps within Iran’s elite Quds Force, in a naval strike.

JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon FM says Israel may strike Beirut airport in war with Hezbollah

Lebanon’s top diplomat said Beirut has received warnings that Israel would strike the country’s airport in a war with Hezbollah as the specter of a military confrontation between the group’s ally, Iran, and the United States looms.

Joseph EID / AFP via Getty Images

As Hezbollah vows to defend Iran, Lebanon braces for potential spillover

Lebanon once again finds itself preparing for Hezbollah’s involvement in a looming US-Iranian military confrontation.

Ed Ram/Getty Images

Kuwait blacklists eight Lebanon hospitals over alleged Hezbollah ties: What to know

The affected hospitals, located in areas where Hezbollah has a heavy presence, are believed to be run by Hezbollah-affiliated institutions.