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Lebanon

Lebanon

July 8, 2026

Beirut 12:47 pm

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Explainer

Lebanon's latest damage estimate outlines reconstruction challenge

More than 1 million Lebanese residents fled their homes after Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon intensified in March, when Hezbollah entered the conflict.

Motorists drive past a billboard bearing a picture of Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, ahead of his funeral in Tehran on July 3, 2026. Iranian leaders began paying their respects on July 3 before the coffin of the country's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, as Tehran prepared for a vast funeral. Khamenei's body arrived at Tehran's Grand Mosalla on July 3 ahead of ceremonies which are expected to draw millions. (Photo by AFP via Ge

Analysis

As US-Iran talks falter, Israel views war outcome as 'total strategic failure’

Israeli officials believe the US failure to attain the kind of agreement with Iran that it originally sought stems from the strategic mistakes made during and after the recent war.

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

The court stands at the start of the first hearing at the International Court of Justice in which Myanmar is accused of committing genocide against the country's Muslim minority, the Rohingya, in the Hague on January 12, 2026. The Gambia filed the genocide case in cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in 2019. Myanmar's military deliberately targeted the Rohingya minority in a bid to destroy the community, Gambia's Justice Minister Dawda Jallow told the International Court of Justice Mond

Explainer

Does provision 13 of Lebanon-Israel deal bar Beirut from pursuing war crimes claims?

Part of the Israeli-Lebanese agreement has led to calls for Beirut to grant the International Criminal Court jurisdiction in Lebanon or sign the Rome Treaty to allow prosecutions.

Latest News

Syria, Lebanon stress noninterference as Damascus mulls Hezbollah talks

Nawaf Salam and Asaad al-Shibani shake hands in Beirut on July 2, 2026.

Culture

Lebanon arrests man after video of public assault on wife goes viral

An activist takes part in a demonstration against sexual harassment, rape and domestic violence in the Lebanese capital Beirut on December 7, 2019. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

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

Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad are seen at al-Sakhra village in Qalamoun Mountains, northeast of Damascus, after taking control of the village from rebel fighters April 14, 2014. Syrian soldiers backed by Hezbollah fighters recaptured the town of Maaloula, north of Damascus, on Monday, military sources and state television said, further squeezing rebels' supply routes through the Qalamoun mountains into Lebanon. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS CONFLICT CIVIL UN

The battle at Qalamoun

Hezbollah and the Syrian regime army have been fighting militants for control of the Qalamoun area near the border.

A man passes through a damaged room in the historic "Barakat" building known as "The Yellow House" on the former green line in Beirut, April 15, 2015. The Yellow House or Beit Beirut is one of the buildings that have witnessed the Lebanese civil war. Renovation of the building that was extremely damaged during the war is taking place to turn it into a museum and a cultural meeting place through a 2008 agreement between Beirut and Paris to preserve the history of the city, local media reported. Picture taken

Beirut House, a Lebanese heritage symbol

The Barakat house, a residential structure first constructed in the 1920s, is being restored as Beit Beirut, a cultural center that will honor the city's heritage.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah talks to his Lebanese and Yemeni supporters through a giant screen during a speech against U.S.-Saudi aggression in Yemen, in Beirut's southern suburbs April 17, 2015. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RTR4XSC5

Yemen dispute could hurt Lebanon

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's verbal attack against Saudi Arabia and its regional allies in a televised speech March 27 about Operation Decisive Storm in Yemen could be part of a process leading to much greater tensions and even conflict in Lebanon.

Hariri: Late Syrian security chief tried to speak out

A statement by Lebanon's former Prime Minister Saad Hariri that Rustom Ghazaleh asked to go on television before his death suggests the former Syrian intelligence chief was about to break with the Syrian government.

Syrians carry returning intelligence chief in Lebanon, Rustum Ghazaleh, in Damascus April 26, 2005. The last Syrian soldiers and intelligence agents left Lebanon on Tuesday, ending three decades of Syria's direct involvement in its small neighbour. As their buses crossed the frontier, many Lebanese hailed the completion of a withdrawal that had taken seven weeks as the start of a new era. But although Damascus's domination is past, many believe its influence in Lebanon is far from over. REUTERS / Khaled al-

Syria's spy chiefs meet untimely deaths

Ten years following the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon, many of the Syrian security officers who once ruled Beirut are now slowly disappearing within Syria.

Beirut's little Armenia keeps tradition alive

People of Armenian descent living in Lebanon strive to preserve their culture, working in traditional sectors and passing down their heritage to the younger generations.

People light candles in memory of the victims of mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks at the main cathedral in Echmiadzin, April 23, 2015. Armenia's president said on Wednesday he was ready to normalize relations with Turkey, two months after he withdrew peace accords from parliament, blaming a Turkish lack of political will to end 100 years of hostility. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili - RTX19YTQ

Armenian genocide anniversary divides Lebanese Cabinet

Sunni and Christian factions in Lebanon are unable to agree on whether to observe the centennial of the Armenian genocide.

An Israeli soldier cast his ballot on an army base near the southern city of Ofakim March 15, 2015. Israeli soldiers started voting on Sunday in Israel's parliamentary election. Polling stations for the rest of Israel open on Tuesday. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4TEUW

Israel's Gaza-war soul-searching

Those in the Arab world who claim that Israel lost many wars mistakenly perceive the democratic process of auto-criticizing and evaluating misjudgments during the war as admission of defeat.

Lebanese military soldiers man a checkpoint, near the site of an ambush where gunmen killed at least six Lebanese soldiers, in the mountainous border town of Ras Baalbek December 3, 2014. Gunmen killed at least six Lebanese soldiers when they attacked an army patrol near the border with Syria on Tuesday, the army and a Lebanese security source said. The source said the gunmen crossed from Syria to the mountainous border town of Ras Baalbek after dark and ambushed the patrol. Clashes between gunmen and a spe

Lebanese army advances to secure border

The Lebanese army has received a substantial arms shipment from the United States, allowing it to advance against terrorist groups in the mountainous border regions.

(From L to R) Lebanon's army chief General Jean Kahwaji, Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Samir Moqbel and French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian review weapons given to the Lebanese army at Beirut airport airbase April 20, 2015. The first shipment of French weapons and military equipment arrived in Lebanon on Monday under a Saudi-funded deal worth $3 billion to bolster the Lebanese army's fight against militants encroaching from neighboring Syria. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RTX19H1M

First delivery of French weapons arrives in Lebanon

Nearly 16 months since the announcement of $3 billion in Saudi military aid to Lebanon, the first weapons shipment from France has already disappointed.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah greets his Lebanese and Yemeni supporters through a giant screen during a speech against US-Saudi aggression in Yemen, in Beirut's southern suburbs April 17, 2015. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RTR4XS93

Nasrallah to Saudi Arabia: Enough is enough

In a recent address to his supporters Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah voiced his disapproval of Saudi Arabia's regional policies, blaming the kingdom for inciting destruction across the region.

A couple sits over ruins in Sidon, south Lebanon, June 22, 2014. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR3V57S

Lebanon's first sexologist

Sandrine Atallah is working to raise awareness of sexuality and sexual health in a country that often shies away from such topics.