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Lebanon

Lebanon

July 8, 2026

Beirut 3:36 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

Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora (L), Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri (C), leader of the anti-Syrian alliance, and Education Minister Bahia al-Hariri greet supporters during a parliamentary election campaign at al-Hariri's house in Beirut May 21, 2009. Lebanon's parliamentary election on June 7 is expected to be a tight contest in which Hezbollah and its allies are hoping to reverse the slim majority held by an anti-Syrian coalition that enjoys U.S. and Saudi backing. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBAN

Parliamentary presence sticking point for Lebanon's women

Although Lebanon is considered a pioneer country in terms of female empowerment, women are still timidly represented in politics, as these usually access parliament following the death of their relatives.

The 'Red Lips High Heels' movement

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Pamela Chrabieh, holder of a doctorate in theology-sciences of religion, talks about her passion for work and the steps she has taken throughout her life to change how men view women in the workplace.

Activists hold up their red-inked thumbs and carry banners as they pose for the media during a sit-in near the parliament and in front of the U.N. headquarters in Beirut April 1, 2014. The activists held the rally on Tuesday to demand politicians approve Lebanon's first law of protecting women from domestic violence. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY) - RTR3JG2D

Will Nadine Moussa be Lebanon's next president?

Lawyer and activist Nadine Moussa, the first woman in Lebanon to submit her candidacy for the presidential elections, tells Al-Monitor that women are still struggling to break the political traditions of a patriarchal country.

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

Retiring officials trigger security concerns in Lebanon

In light of the presidential vacuum, Lebanese political forces have established a new mechanism for making decisions in Cabinet, a formula that will be tested when a number of key security officials retire in 2015.

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The female 'rock stars' of terror

Women such as Saja al-Dulaimi and Joumana Hmayed are often used for smuggling messages, money and arms by extremist groups in addition to suicide bombing operations.

10 Middle East artists to watch

Many female artists in the Middle East and North Africa are redefining their mediums.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY RIMA ABUSHAKRA A general view shows the Sursock Museum in Beirut on June 27, 2008. Gemmayzeh boasts some of Beirut's most magnificent mansions owned by the Sursock family. The Sursock Museum was once a private home built in 1912 and now is host to an impressive permanent art collection. The house had a splendid garden that kept it apart from its closest neighbour, also another Sursock mansion. But recently the garden was razed to allow for the construction of a 25-storey apartment bl

Beirut re-brushed

Despite Lebanon's political and security challenges, Beirut is witnessing an upsurge in the art scene with established and new museums exhibiting Arab artworks.

Palestinian Fatah members march during a parade at Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp, southern Lebanon, to mark the 46th anniversary of founding the Fateh movement, December 31, 2010. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON - Tags: ANNIVERSARY CIVIL UNREST) - RTXW41O

Palestinian factions maintain fragile stability in Sidon camp

Although Salafist fugitives have found refuge in Ain al-Hilweh, competing Palestinian factions appear intent on maintaining stability in the refugee camp.

Palestinian women walk in an alley in Shatila refugee camp near Beirut May 23, 2007. The Lebanese army is trying to crush Fatah al-Islam, a militant group led by a Palestinian but with little or no support among Lebanon's Palestinian refugee population of 400,000. Dozens of people have died in three days of fighting. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON) - RTR1Q072

Florence Massena on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Florence Massena shares her thoughts on journalism.

A woman looks on as she sits amongst displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, who are sleeping on the ground at Bajed Kadal refugee camp, southwest of Dohuk province August 23, 2014. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR43FCQ

Maya Gebeily on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Maya Gebeily shares her thoughts on journalism.

Arab artists depict violence in their paintings

Many Arab artists — Lebanese, Syrian and Iraqi — have been inserting terrorism and violence into their paintings, to show the world the suffering of the Arab peoples.

Lebanese news photographers work during a protest against the forced closure of media institutions on Friday by Hezbollah gunmen and its allies in Beirut May 10, 2008. The Shi'ite movement Hezbollah tightened its control of the Lebanese capital on Saturday in a show of force after it routed gunmen loyal to the western-backed government. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON) - RTX5JNR

Mona Alami on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Mona Alami shares her thoughts on journalism.