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Lebanon

Lebanon

December 24, 2025

Beirut 11:18 pm

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A view of a concrete wall built by Israel near the Blue Line in Maroun al-Ras, Lebanon, on Nov. 13, 2025.

Analysis

France seeks to bolster Lebanon's army through UNIFIL coordination, donor conference

France believes that the key to stabilizing the region is bolstering the Lebanese military so it can regain control over the south of the country.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

A convoy carrying a UN security council delegation, tours the border with Israel close to the southern Lebanese area of Naqura on December 6, 2025. UNIFIL peacekeepers have been tasked with acting as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon since March 1978, and with monitoring the November 2024 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP via Getty Images)

Exclusive

Second Lebanon-Israel meeting sidelined France, saw US pressure on Netanyahu

Differences over the so-called economic zone and the high civilian toll from Israeli strikes capped the second meeting between Lebanese and Israeli officials on Friday.

Joyce Karam

Rina Bassist

By Joyce Karam , Rina Bassist

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto (Middle-L) meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (R) in Beirut at Baabda Palace, on Dec. 22, 2025.

Italy pledges to maintain troops in southern Lebanon after UNIFIL withdrawal

Italy plays a crucial role in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, with an Italian leading its command and the country contributing over 1,000 troops to the mission.

Latest News

Second Lebanon-Israel meeting agrees to strengthen Lebanese army: What to know

Rabih DAHER / AFP via Getty Images

US, France and Saudi Arabia agree to conference to bolster Lebanon’s army

This photograph taken during a press tour organised by the Lebanese army shows Lebanese soldiers standing atop a military vehicle in Alma Al-Shaab, near the border with Israel in southern Lebanon, on November 28, 2025. It was the first guided tour the army gave journalists since a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end over a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (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

Senior News Editor

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional geopolitics, China in the Middle East

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

Culture Alert: November the month for contemporary art, photography

Several major art events are entering their final weeks and months in the region.

Lebanon battles to get its treasures back

A marble bull’s head and a statue of a calf bearer, stolen in 1981, are due to return to Lebanon after a legal battle with private collectors in the United States.

BDS guidelines ensnare award-winning Palestinian actor

A screening of the film “The Insult,” for which a Palestinian won a coveted acting award, was canceled in Ramallah because the film's director had worked in Israel on his previous movie.

Lebanon's civil war scars re-emerge with assassination case verdict

The sentencing of two men accused of assassinating former Lebanese President-elect Bashir Gemayel in 1982 has become politicized as questions are raised about its timing.

Women, who fled from Raqqa city, carry their belongings in al-Mahmudli village, west of Raqqa, Syria April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RC1293527DB0

Raqqa mothers recount horrors of life under IS as city liberated

The thousands of Syrians who fled Raqqa when it fell under the Islamic State’s control have gained an inch of hope to return to their homes after the city was recently liberated.

Lebanese women entrepreneurs push for success

The Lebanese League for Women in Business is launching projects encouraging women to open their own businesses.

Are Netanyahu, Liberman pushing Israel to war?

Instead of Israel’s traditional discrete approach on retaliating fire from the north, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman are multiplying their provocative declarations.

Lebanon looks to recreate Palestinian society in refugee camp

A decade after the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp was destroyed, UNRWA is rebuilding it based on original layouts to better achieve the sense of community that existed in pre-1948 Palestine.

Lebanon launches suicide hotline to raise awareness about mental health

In light of social stigma and limited health care, a Lebanese NGO is launching a suicide hotline to help people suffering from mental illnesses overcome their problems.

Mud, rocks on menu in Beirut for Sharjah cultural event

One of the major contemporary art experiences in the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates' Sharjah festival, held events in Beirut, Istanbul, Ramallah and Dakar.

Will new regulations help Palestinian-Syrians in Lebanon?

New regulations could put an end to legal challenges faced by Palestinian-Syrian refugees who have, in some cases, gone to extreme lengths just to get hold of even the most fundamental legal documents.

Ottoman fez gets face-lift in Beirut

Two Lebanese designers are collaborating to reinvent the traditional tarboosh and give it a 21st-century look.