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Lebanon

Lebanon

September 19, 2026

Beirut 7:15 am

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Hibatullah Barakat / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon charges 5 in alleged Hezbollah operation to train Assad loyalists

A Lebanese military court has charged the five, including an Assad-era Syrian officer and Hezbollah members, with running a cross-border security network planning attacks in Syria’s coastal region.

ISRAEL-ENTERTAINMENT-TELEVISION-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT-MASS-MEDIA-D (L to R) Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff, co-creators of the hit Israeli TV show "Fauda", attend a demonstration against the Israeli government's plans to shut-down public broadcaster KAN, in Israel's Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on January 25, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Israeli show ‘Fauda’ tops Netflix in Lebanon, hits top 10 across Arab states

The show was created by Israeli journalist Avi Issacharoff and actor Lior Raz, drawing on their experiences serving in the Israeli military’s elite Duvdevan unit.

UN peacekeepers stand next to an armored vehicle during a patrol in southern Lebanon, Feb. 22, 2026.

Explainer

Why France is pushing to keep UNIFIL in Lebanon beyond 2026

Showing its support for Lebanon, Paris is backing Beirut’s request at the UN for a short-term extension of UNIFIL’s mandate, although French sources acknowledge that the chances of the request being approved are slim.

A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Nabatieh shows smoke as it rises from the site of Israeli strikes that targeted the hilltops of the mountainous area of the strategic Ali al-Taher Ridge on Aug. 14, 2026.

Israel says it destroyed Hezbollah tunnels in Ali al-Taher ridge: What to know

The ridge has become a flashpoint in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon due to its extensive tunnel network Israel says is utilized by the Iran-backed group.

Latest News

Israeli escalation in south Lebanon leaves 27 dead in 3 days as talks stall

Kawnat HAJU / AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon says at least 12 killed in Israeli strikes as tensions rise in south

An excavator digs as rescuers search for survivors amid the rubble following an overnight Israeli airstrike on the village of Kfar Roummane, southern Lebanon, Sept. 7, 2026.

Analysis

Playing for time: Despite US pressure, Israel stalls Lebanon talks until after election

Ammar Ammar / AFP via Getty Images

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

Why Ali al-Taher ridge is emerging as Israel-Hezbollah flashpoint

A flare fired by the Israeli military lands over the highlands of the area of Ali al-Taher as seen from nearby Marjayoun (Marjeyoun) in southern Lebanon on June 14, 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

A Patriot anti-missile battery is deployed in the northern city of Haifa August 29, 2013. Israel ordered a small-scale mobilisation of reservists on Wednesday, and strengthened its missile defences as precautions against possible Syrian attack should Western powers carry out threatened strikes on Syria. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS) - RTX12ZZO

Three Scenarios for Day After Attack on Syria

The possible outcomes of a US-launched war on Syria.

Relatives carry the coffin of a female victim who died yesterday from the bombs blasts that hit two mosques in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli August 24, 2013. Bombs hit two mosques in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday, killing at least 42 people and wounding hundreds, intensifying sectarian strife that has spilled over from the civil war in neighbouring Syria. REUTERS/Rayan al-Turk (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12V6Z

Looming Attacks Grip Lebanon

Following three major bombings since July 9, various Lebanese parties have traded accusations, while the Lebanese speculate regarding a potential future attack.

A woman reacts as she looks at the site of a car bomb that occurred on Thursday in Beirut's southern suburbs, August 16, 2013. The death toll from a car bomb which ripped through the southern Beirut stronghold of Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah rose on Friday to 24, and the government said it was investigating whether the blast was a suicide attack. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12NFG

Hezbollah Locks Down Beirut Stronghold After Bombings

The security lockdown is a reaction to rising sectarian tensions and two bombs hitting Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut in two months.

United Nations (U.N.) vehicles transport a team of U.N. chemical weapons experts to the scene of a poison gas attack outside the Syrian capital last week, in Damascus August 26, 2013. The experts dressed in blue U.N. body armour, left in a six-car convoy, according to a Reuters witness, and were accompanied by security forces and an ambulance. They said they were headed to the rebel-held outskirts of Damascus, known as Eastern Ghouta, where activists say rockets loaded with poison gas killed hundreds of peo

Five Game Changers in Syria

What can prolong or shorten the Syria conflict?

Lebanon's Hezbollah supporters wave Palestinian and Hezbollah flags during a demonstration, organised by Lebanese and Palestinian factions, against Israel's military operation in Gaza, in front of the U.N. headquarters in Beirut November 17, 2012. Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza on Saturday, including the prime minister's office, after Israel's cabinet authorised the mobilisation of up to 75,000 reservists, preparing for a possible ground invasion. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON - T

Hezbollah-Hamas Relations 'Good' Despite Beirut Bombing Accusations

Sources close to Hezbollah claim ties with Hamas remain on relatively good terms despite disagreements and accusations that Hamas was involved in bombing a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut.

People inspect the damage inside one of two mosques hit by explosions in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, August 23, 2013. Twin explosions outside two mosques killed at least 27 people and wounded hundreds in apparently coordinated attacks in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday, a senior health official and witnesses said. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12U8I

Who's Behind Attempts to Spread Chaos in Lebanon?

According to a senior former Lebanese security official, jihadists are carrying out a series of attacks in Lebanon to draw the country into a civil war.

Shoes and slippers left by Muslims who were attending Friday prayers are seen at one of two mosques hit by explosions in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, August 23, 2013. Twin explosions outside the two mosques killed at least 27 people and wounded hundreds in apparently coordinated attacks in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday, a senior health official and witnesses said. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12UE3

Is Iran Genuinely Troubled By Sunni-Shiite Conflict?

With the latest bombing in Lebanon, the sectarian overtones of the region's conflicts have crystallized.

A crane removes burnt cars from outside one of two mosques hit by explosions in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, August 23, 2013. Twin explosions outside two mosques killed at least 27 people and wounded hundreds in apparently coordinated attacks in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday, a senior health official and witnesses said. REUTERS/Sobhi Al-Sharif (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12U8F

Are Tripoli Bombings Aimed At Sparking Sectarian War in Lebanon?

Leading Lebanese figures claim that Friday's bombings, which targeted Sunni mosques in the northern city of Tripoli and resulted in more than 40 deaths, were aimed at polarizing the country and sparking a sectarian war.

Israeli army vehicles patrol along Israel's border with Lebanon near the northern village of Avivim July 3, 2013. Israel is bolstering its forces on the once-quiet frontier with Syria where it believes Lebanese Hezbollah militants are preparing for the day when they could fight Israel. Picture taken July 3, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTX11IMG

Israel's New Adversary: Global Jihad

Rockets fired by global jihad cells from the Lebanese border will force Israel to adjust its military strategy.

Lebanese civilians and supporters of Hezbollah take part in a candle light vigil in solidarity with people who died in a car bomb that occurred on last Thursday in Beirut's southern suburbs August 19, 2013. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12R0W

Hezbollah-Hamas Relationship Strained

News reports suggest that Hezbollah's relationship with Hamas is under more pressure than ever, which is good news for Israel.

A woman cries at the site of an explosion in Beirut's southern suburbs, August 15, 2013. Rescue workers in the southern Beirut district hit by an explosion on Thursday have found nine bodies, a witness at the scene said. The powerful blast engulfed several cars in flames and also trapped people in a nearby building. REUTERS/Mahmoud Kheir (LEBANON - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX12MIN

Lebanon Caught in Middle Of Iranian-Saudi 'Cold War'

Lebanon’s unique position in the Arab Levant means it has been inevitably caught up in the back and forth of Iran and Saudi Arabia’s proxy war in the region.

A Turkish peacekeeper of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) closes a gate of the Turkish Engineering Construction Company (TURKCOY) of UNIFIL in the village of Shaaytiyeh, southern Lebanon, August 12, 2013. Gunmen abducted two Turkish Airlines pilots in Beirut on Friday, forcing them from an airport bus in the early hours of the morning and prompting Turkey to urge its citizens to leave Lebanon. Turkey warned it citizens against non-essential travel to Lebanon and called on those already i

Turkey Takes Sides, Pays a Price

The kidnappings in Lebanon are only one of the prices of Turkey’s ill-conceived, sectarian-nature foreign policy — which is nothing new.