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Lebanon

Lebanon

May 2, 2026

Beirut 4:48 am

17°C

Ibrahim AMRO / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Without exit strategy, Israel faces emboldened Hezbollah, limited options on Iran

While President Donald Trump remains undecided on striking Iran again, the Israeli military is sinking deeper into its Lebanon quagmire with a reinforced Hezbollah.

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

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C), alongside US State Department Counselor Michael Needham (2L) and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (2R), speaks during a meeting.

US seeks to train Lebanon army units to disarm Hezbollah: What to know

Funding for such a program remains unclear, though the Pentagon has requested $36 million for fiscal year 2027 to support Lebanon’s army.

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Despite Trump pressure to limit Israel's Lebanon attacks, Aoun-Netanyahu meeting still unlikely

As President Donald Trump pressures Israel to limit its strikes in Lebanon, Hezbollah is taking advantage of the situation.

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

Lebanese president Joseph Aoun (L) stands next to the parliament speaker Nabih Berri as he delivers a speech at the parliament building in Beirut Jan. 9, 2025.

'Treason is war for external interests': Lebanon’s Aoun hits back at Hezbollah

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun rejects Hezbollah’s criticism of talks with Israel, insisting negotiations are aimed at ending hostilities and saying “treason” is taking the country to war for external interests.

Latest News

Why US, Israel are freezing France out of Lebanon talks

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to journalists as he arrives for an informal meeting of the European Council in Nicosia, Cyprus, April 24, 2026.

In Lebanon, Saudi Arabia pursues quiet diplomacy as Trump pushes Israel normalization

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan (L) disembarks from an airplane upon his arrival at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on Jan. 23, 2025.

Analysis

Israel fears Trump angling for Lebanon deal to offset Iran missteps

US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (R) holds a signed "Make America Great Again" hat while (L-R) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lebanon Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad listen to US President Donald Trump speak during a meeting with Lebanon Ambassador to the US and Israel Ambassador to the US, at the White House in Washington, DC on April 23, 2026. US President Donald Trump met Lebanese and Israeli envoys at a new round of peace talks Thursday, with Beirut seeking a one-month extension of a

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

Trump says Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended by three weeks

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Israel Ambassador to US Yechiel Leiter, US Vice President JD Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lebanon Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh and US ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa listen as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting at the White House in Washington on April 23, 2026.

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

Editor-in-Chief

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

An Israeli tank patrols the Shebaa Farms area, wedged between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights July 8, 2009. A Lebanese army colonel suspected of collaborating with Israel fled to the Jewish state last week, a Lebanese security source said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR25GD9

Hezbollah sends Israel message in Shebaa bombing

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has claimed responsibility for the Shebaa Farms bombing that wounded Israeli soldiers, and Israel has filed a complaint at the United Nations, signaling that Israel understood the message.

Lebanese members of parliament count the votes after casting their ballots to elect the new Lebanese president in the parliament building in downtown Beirut April 23, 2014. Lebanese parliamentarians failed to elect a new president in a first round of voting on Wednesday, with leading candidate Samir Geagea falling well short of the required two-thirds majority. REUTERS/Joseph Eid/Pool (LEBANON - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS) - RTR3MATM

Lebanon's presidential stalemate

The deadlock in the politicking over Lebanon's next president has a familiar feel.

Parliament members give the newly-formed cabinet a vote of confidence in Beirut March 20, 2014. Lebanon's parliament gave a newly-formed cabinet a vote of confidence on Thursday, ending almost a year of political deadlock during which the country has been pulled further into the civil war in neighbouring Syria. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE - RTR3JS87

Parliament to defer election of Lebanon’s next president

The Lebanese electoral session will be a “feeler” to determine the sizes of the various forces.

Members of the Lebanese Civil Defence stand in the sea near a Lebanese flag during a protest in Beirut April 9, 2014. Workers from public sectors went on strike on Wednesday to demand more rights. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3KJCX

Lebanon needs a model president

Lebanon currently faces crises that only a unifying president can address.

Nuns hold candles during a candle-lit vigil at the Balamand Monastery in Koura, near the north Lebanese city of Tripoli, to call for the release of bishops kidnapped in northern Syria two months ago, June 22, 2013. Greek Orthodox Patriarch John Yazigi led the candle-lit vigil on Saturday for Greek Orthodox archbishop Paul Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim, appealing to their kidnappers to free them and urging Syrian security forces to do more to win their release. REUTERS/Omar Ibrahim (L

Fate of kidnapped Syrian bishops still unknown

As the one-year anniversary of the kidnapping of Bishops Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi in Aleppo approaches, questions persist regarding their fate and the identity of the kidnappers.

Palestinians are seen through a car window which Hamas police said was damaged in an Israeli strike on a workshop in the northern Gaza Strip April 4, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3JW08

Hamas in overdrive to restore regional ties

Hamas is pursuing a policy of neutrality while it reaches out to regional capitals to end its crippling isolation.

A man uses an ATM at the Lebanese Canadian Bank (LCB) headquarters in Beirut February 11, 2011. Lebanon's central bank governor Riad Salameh expressed support on Friday for Beirut-based Lebanese Canadian Bank (LCB), which faces U.S. Treasury Department accusations of involvement in money laundering. REUTERS/ Cynthia karam (LEBANON - Tags: BUSINESS) - RTXXQK2

Lebanon banks affected by wage hike

The proposed solutions to the wage hike debate in Lebanon included raising the interest rates on bank deposits, which will prevent the banking sector from playing its role as a catalyst for economic growth.

Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad are seen in the Qalamoun mountains north of Damascus, in this handout photograph distributed by Syria's national news agency SANA on December 27, 2013. Syria's army ambushed Islamist fighters in the Qalamoun mountains north of the capital Damascus on Friday, leaving as many as 60 people dead, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The attack happened between the Christian town of Maaloula and the town of Yabroud, where government forces and rebels are

After Maaloula, Syrian army heads to Zabadani

The Syrian army has taken control of Maaloula, and seems to be on the verge of recovering most of the region linking Damascus to Lebanon.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas waves as he arrives to a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah March 31, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry broke from his travel schedule for the second time in a week and rushed back to the Middle East on Monday to try to salvage Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. A major stumbling block is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand that Abbas explicitly recognise Israel as a Jewish state. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BAN

Palestinians should consider halt to diplomacy

The Palestinians should heed the suggestion of a group of distinguished Americans and halt diplomacy with Israel until it complies with international law.

Photographer Mohamed Turjuman shows what he says are pictures that he took of Imam Musa al-Sadr, at his studio in Tyre, southern Lebanon, February 23, 2011. Sadr, the founder of the Shi'ite Amal movement, disappeared with his two companions on a visit to Libya in 1978. The uprising against Muammar Gaddafi has given Sadr's family hope that they may finally find out what happened to him if the Libyan leader is toppled, Rabab al-Sadr told Reuters on February 24, 2011. Picture taken February 23, 2011. REUTERS/

Lebanon's Shiite seminaries split between tradition, modernity

Although most Shiite seminaries in Lebanon still follow a traditional curriculum, a number of schools have begun to revise and develop their educational approaches.

Members of the Lebanese Civil Defence stand in the sea near a Lebanese flag during a protest in Beirut April 9, 2014. Workers from public sectors went on strike on Wednesday to demand more rights. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3KJCX

Lebanon’s new pulse

In the shadow of the Syrian war, Lebanon may be discovering a new social contract.

A protester carries a piece of bread and an anti-government banner during a Hezbollah-backed protest against the government's economic reform programme outside the tax office in Beirut January 9, 2007. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON) - RTR1L0JU

Lebanon on wrong economic track

Lebanon is trying to fix structural economic problems by raising taxes, which will make matters worse.