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Lebanon

Lebanon

July 8, 2026

Beirut 1:40 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

A general view of the presidential palace is seen during a farewell ceremony for Outgoing Lebanese President Michel Sleiman in Baabda, near Beirut, May 24, 2014.
REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3QNB0

Will Iranian nuclear deal impact Lebanon?

Although historically a change in regional dynamics has aided the political stalemate in Lebanon, it remains unclear whether this latest breakthrough will help the country elect a president.

A Lebanese policeman stands guard, as Lebanese Shi'ites, who said they were forced to leave United Arab Emirates last year because of purported security reasons, hold banners during a protest to demand for their rights, in front of the UAE embassy in Beirut May 5, 2010. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS SOCIETY EMPLOYMENT BUSINESS) - RTR2DHH4

What is behind UAE deportation of Lebanese nationals?

Although UAE authorities maintain that the recent decision to deport dozens of Lebanese nationals was made over security concerns, others believe that political alignments may have played a role.

Children who were internally displaced from Hama and Idlib, walk in a makeshift school playground within a refugee camp beside the Syrian-Turkish border in Qtma town, Idlib countryside December 18, 2014. Picture taken December 18, 2014.
REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4IO28

The Islamic State's child soldiers

The Islamic State has been recruiting child soldiers for quite some time now, and the world is finally taking notice.

Lebanese of Armenian descent carry banners as they wave Lebanese and Armenian flags during a march from Bourj Hammoud to downtown Beirut's Martyrs Square, April 24, 2013, to mark the 98th anniversary of the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXYXYB

Turkish-Armenian conflict rears its head in Lebanon

Lebanon has been invited to the Armenian Genocide Centennial in Yerevan, as well as to the commemoration of the Battle of Gallipoli in Ankara, which will both be held on the same day, thus raising questions about Lebanon’s stance regarding the 1915 Armenian massacres.

Syrian women walk along an agriculture field after finishing their work in the Lebanese village of Ammiq in west Bekaa March 2, 2015. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON - Tags: SOCIETY IMMIGRATION BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT AGRICULTURE) - RTR4RSZD

Al-Monitor highlights diversity of Islamic feminism

Al-Monitor’s monthlong series on women concludes; Lebanese foreign minister appeals to UN Security Council for protection of Christians; members of Congress seek "formal dialogue" on future of Turkish democracy; the fault lines in Aleppo; have Israeli elections sparked long-stalled Palestinian reconciliation?; Ali Hashem profiles self-proclaimed Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil adjusts his earpiece during a news conference at the Foreign Affairs building in Mexico City, February 23, 2015. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido (MEXICO - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4QVGR

Lebanese foreign minister: UN needs to show its political will

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Gebran Bassil asked for the international community to stop the flight of Christians and minorities from the region.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal gestures during his interview with Reuters in Doha November 29, 2012. Meshaal said the de facto recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state won by his rival Mahmoud Abbas should be seen alongside Gaza's latest conflict with Israel as a single, bold strategy that could empower all Palestinians. Meshaal said the short war which claimed 162 Palestinian lives and five Israelis was concluded on terms set by the Palestinian Islamist movement and ended its isolation, creating a new moo

Hamas hopes to expand regional relations

Hamas is seeking to expand its regional relations, namely with Egypt, which is seemingly trying to ease tensions with the movement.

Israeli soldiers walk near military vehicles near Israel's border with Lebanon January 28, 2015. At least 22 shells fired from Israel hit open farmland in southern Lebanon close to the frontier, a Lebanese security source in the area said on Wednesday. Earlier in the day an anti-tank missile was fired at an Israeli military vehicle near the frontier with Lebanon, an Israeli army spokesman said. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4NA14

Israel takes Hezbollah threats seriously

The Israel Defense Forces have altered the topographical contours of the Western Galilee to create a steep cliff adjacent to the border with Lebanon, with the objective of turning the ground into a strategic advantage against Hezbollah.

Armed supporters of Lebanon's Sunni Muslim Salafist leader Ahmad al-Assir (front row 3rd R) escort him and Lebanese singer Fadel Shaker (front row 2nd R) during the funeral of two of al-Assir's supporters, who died during Sunday's fighting with supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah, in Sidon, southern Lebanon November 12, 2012. Three people were killed on Sunday when fighting broke out in the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon between followers of al-Assir and supporters of the Lebanese Shi'ite guerrilla movement H

No 'deal' for Lebanese singer turned militant

Amid the speculation, public resentment and mixed views that have been surrounding the case of Fadel Shaker, will the former singer, now militant, manage to find a way out?

Fighters from the Shi'ite Badr Brigade militia stand near their flag as they guard at a checkpoint along a highway recently taken from militants of the Islamic State, outside the town of Sulaiman Pek September 5, 2014. The highway, which continues south to Baghdad, is now controlled by Shi'ite militia fighters and the Kurdish Peshmerga. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR454AO

Is the Shiite revival here?

Iran's support of religiously motivated forces in the Middle East has been viewed by many as a success while Saudi Arabia has struggled to find find reliable proxies.

A police officer stands guard in front of the Bardo Museum in Tunis March 24, 2015. The national museum reopened on Tuesday, almost a week after a militant attack which killed 20 foreign visitors. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi - RTR4UMIW

The Islamic State in Africa

The Islamic State presence in the depth of the African continent was strengthened after Nigerian movement Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the terrorist group.

People take part in a protest against President Bashar al-Assad in the tribal province of Deir al-Zor, eastern Syria, July 22, 2011. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Syria after Friday prayers, activists and witnesses say, in widening pro-democracy protests against a violent military crackdown to crush a four month uprising. REUTERS/Handout (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLI

After four years, Syrian revolution continues

Syrian rebels say that the shift to armed movements against Bashar al-Assad’s regime has pushed people away from the main purpose of the revolution that started in 2011 and called for achieving justice, equality and freedom for all.