Armed Militias and Extremist Groups

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam (R) shakes hands with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan before their meeting in Beirut on Jan. 23, 2025.

Saudi Arabia lifts 5-year ban on Lebanon imports: What to know

Saudi Arabia had been a main donor for Lebanon before ties strained during Hezbollah’s rising influence in the country.

KAWNAT HAJU / AFP via Getty Images

Hezbollah calls on Lebanon to 'correct' relations with Iran

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun recently told Iran to stay out of the country’s affairs, drawing a rebuke from Tehran.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive to speak to journalists during a joint press conference at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 29, 2025. US President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on December 29 for crucial talks on moving to the next stage of the fragile Gaza truce plan.The two leaders also discussed Iran, with Trump saying that if Tehran rebuilt its nuclear facilities the United States wo

Analysis

'We are already hearing the bus': Israeli insiders fear Netanyahu is losing Trump’s backing on Iran

“He couldn’t afford a confrontation with Trump, who was the last asset he had left,” a Netanyahu associate told Al-Monitor, describing the prime minister’s struggle to balance pressure for retaliation against Iran with the need to preserve his alliance with the US president.

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

Rocket trails are seen in the sky above the Israeli coastal city of Netanya on June 7, 2026.

US military helped Israel intercept Iran's missiles: What to know

Iranian barrages targeting Israel came after Israeli warplanes struck the outskirts of Beirut, despite the White House publicly signaling its opposition to such strikes.

Latest News

Analysis

Israel’s Lebanon endgame remains elusive despite ceasefire deal

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon close to the Beaufort Castle as seen from a position across the border in the Upper Galilee, in northern Israel on June 4, 2026.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Analysis

Why Israel sees Lebanon’s 'pilot zones' as path to containing Hezbollah

A portrait of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is visible in heavily damaged building in the border town of Ayta al-Chaab, southern Lebanon, Feb. 21, 2026.

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

Tom Barrack addresses criticism over his remarks on Hezbollah, Turkey: What to know

Tom Barrack testifies during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 01, 2025, in Washington, DC.

What’s in new Israel-Lebanon ceasefire deal — and what’s missing?

First responders gather at the site of an Israeli strike that hit near a hospital in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on June 1, 2026.

Smoke rises from the smouldering rubble at the scene of Israeli air strikes in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27, 2024. A source close to Hezbollah said the massive Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs flattened six buildings. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP) (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel kept Pentagon in the dark about Beirut strikes, Austin says

The White House ordered the US military to adjust force posture in the Middle East ‘as necessary’ after Israel defied Washington in a bid to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, risking war with Iran.

Commanding officers of the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State.

US, Iraq announce end of defeat-ISIS coalition, but troops may stay

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s need for a domestic political win has sent Pentagon officials back to the drawing board to find ways to keep the lid on ISIS in neighboring Syria.

Turkish-backed Syrian fighters from the Turkish-backed 1st Corps of the Samarkand Brigade take part in a military parade in the opposition-held Afrin region of northern Syria, on Nov. 23, 2022.

Interview

Syrian-Kurdish KNC leader decries abuse by Turkey-backed Sunni factions in Afrin

Kurdish National Council President Sleiman Oso told Al-Monitor that dialogue with his group's rivals, the PYD, is still possible.

Sleiman Oso

Sleiman Oso

Kurdish National Council President

Lebanese army soldiers stand guard as an ambulance rushes wounded people to a hospital in Beirut on Sept. 17, 2024.

Exclusive

Exclusive: Hezbollah suspicions forced Israel to expedite Lebanon pager attack

It was not Israel’s preferred course of action to detonate the pagers ahead of a full-scale war with Hezbollah, but security officials made an 11th-hour decision after at least two Hezbollah members suspected something was amiss with the devices.

Gabrielle Debinski

Tyler Huffman

By Gabrielle Debinski , Tyler Huffman

Ambulances are surrounded by people at the entrance of the American University of Beirut Medical Center, on September 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters.

Pentagon denies role in suspected Israeli pager attacks in Lebanon

Phone pagers exploded across Lebanon and in Syria, injuring thousands in a suspected Israeli attack targeting Hezbollah just a day after top Washington officials urged Israeli leaders not to escalate the conflict.

Jared Szuba

Rina Bassist

By Jared Szuba , Rina Bassist

Displaced Palestinians walk next to the border fence between Gaza and Egypt, on February 16, 2024 in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. Nearly 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are trapped in Rafah -- more than half of Gaza's populations -- seeking shelter in a sprawling makeshift encampment near the Egyptian border. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Egypt fed up with Netanyahu, but crisis with Israel deeper than Philadelphi

Bilateral relations between Israel and Egypt have been extremely tense, mostly due to disagreement over the Philadelphi Corridor, but not only that.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

HADI MIZBAN/AFP via Getty Images

US-Iraq raids puts scrutiny on Baghdad’s ability to contain ISIS

Seven US troops were injured during raids to take down senior Islamic State operatives in Iraq’s western Anbar province last week amid a spike in ISIS attacks.

A cargo ship is docked at the port of Yemen's Huthi-held city of Hodeida on July 28, 2024. Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi entity denies its ship hit as Houthis claim attack on Greek tanker

Saudi Arabia's national shipping company Bahri denied reports that its tanker Amjad came under attack by the Houthis, the Yemeni armed group that has stepped up attacks on oil tankers in the Red Sea.

A group of protesters hold placards reading "Yankee go Home - No way to USA," in Istanbul, on April 14, 2021.

Turkish ultranationalists arrested after accosting US Marines in Izmir

A mob of provocateurs of the Turkish Youth Union assaulted two US Marines while they visited the port city, shouting "Yankee go home" and thrusting a bag over the head of one of the Marines.

Houthi ships

Two oil tankers come under attack in the Red Sea, sources say

Oil tankers transiting the Red Sea are facing renewed dangers while transiting one of the world's most critical chokepoints for crude.

MUNICH, GERMANY - JANUARY 24: Pavel Durov of Vkontakte speaks during the Digital Life Design conference (DLD) at HVB Forum on January 24, 2012 in Munich, Germany. ence and culture which connects business, creative and social leaders, opinion-formers and investors for crossover conversation and inspiration. (Photo by Nadine Rupp/Getty Images)

Analysis

Telegram CEO's arrest spotlights UAE’s investment-based citizenship laws

The United Arab Emirates is showing that it takes its citizenship laws seriously and has vowed to fight for Telegram founder Pavel Durov.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Aspides

Houthis allow Greek tanker ablaze in Red Sea to be towed to safety

The Iran-backed rebels said they were responding to concerns by the European Union that the tanker endangered maritime and environmental safety in the Red Sea.