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Lebanon

Lebanon

December 6, 2025

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An Israeli military tank patrols along the border fence separating northern Israel from southern Lebanon on November 24, 2025. Hezbollah held the funeral on November 24 for its top military chief and other members of the militant group a day after Israel killed them in a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Lebanon-Israel direct talks pause operation against Hezbollah — but for how long?

The US blocked Israel from widening its strikes on Hezbollah this week, yet another flare-up in their enduring conflict seems likely despite first direct talks between Lebanon and Israel.

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

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun delivers a speech during a meeting of Pope Leo XIV with authorities, civil society and diplomatic corps at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of the capital Beirut, on November 30, 2025. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon, Israel to hold second round of direct talks: What we know

While Israel and Lebanon continue talks, Israeli airstrikes have persisted, and Hezbollah shows no sign of complying with disarmament requirements.

Simon Karam

Who is Simon Karam, head of Lebanon’s delegation to talks with Israel?

Karam is a veteran diplomat and a legal scholar who served as Lebanon’s ambassador to the United States from 1992 to 1993.

US deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Gaza, at UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 18, 2025.

US pressure prompted Israel-Lebanon talks to avert war with Hezbollah

According to an Israeli security source, US envoy Morgan Ortagus’ visit was perceived in Israel as a warning that President Donald Trump will not accept Israel launching a large military campaign in southern Lebanon.

Latest News

Lebanon and Israel hold first direct talks in decades: What to know

A view of a concrete wall built by Israel near the Blue Line in southwest Yaroun, Lebanon, on Nov. 13, 2025.

Culture

Lebanon’s first lady Nehmat Aoun takes center stage during Pope's visit

Adri Salido/Getty Images

Pope Leo gets rock star's reception in Lebanon, drawing cheers, celebrations

Pope Leo XIV waves to a crowd of youths upon his arrival at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke, north of the capital Beirut, on December 1, 2025. Leo prayed for peace in Lebanon and the region on December 1 on day two of his trip to the multi-confessional country, with joyful Lebanese welcoming the pontiff at two famous pilgrimage sites. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon celebrates Pope Leo’s visit as Israel escalates attacks

A giant billboard of Pope Leo XIV along the highway leading to Beirut's international airport, Nov. 20, 2025.

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

LEBANON-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Khiam on September 30, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP) (Photo by RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images)

US boosts defense posture as Blinken urges diplomacy between Israel, Lebanon

The White House is calling for a prioritization of diplomacy despite reports that Israel could be readying for a ground operation in Lebanon.

Israeli army tanks are deployed in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, Sept. 29, 2024.

Analysis

Israel buoyant after killing Nasrallah, mulls risky Lebanon ground invasion

After the killing of the Hezbollah chief, Israeli security chiefs disagree on a potential ground incursion into southern Lebanon.

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

Yoav Gallant

Gallant hints Israel preparing to launch ground offensive in Lebanon

Speaking with soldiers deployed near the border with Lebanon, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hinted that a ground invasion could take place soon.

Head of Hezbollah's Executive Council Hashem Safieddine arrives as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid provided by the Lebanese Shiite group set out for Syria in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Feb. 12, 2023.

Meet Hezbollah’s Hashem Safieddine, Iran’s confidant and likely successor for Nasrallah

Hashem Safieddine is considered close to Hezbollah’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah but is seen as more ruthless and less pragmatic than the late leader of the group.

A Shiite Muslim cleric holds a poster reading "crossing a red line" in Persian next to an image of Hassan Nasrallah, the late leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, during an anti-Israel protest in Tehran's Palestine Square on Sept. 28, 2024, after Hezbollah confirmed reports of Nasrallah's killing in an Israeli air strike in Beirut the previous day.

From Yemen to Turkey, Mideast reacts to death of Hezbollah's Nasrallah

Leaders and groups in the Middle East have reacted to the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed Friday in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut.

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah give a televised speech in a hanger in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh in Lebanon on May 24, 2024, following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran in a helicopter crash.

Who was Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s formative leader killed by Israel?

After decades of leading Hezbollah and overseeing its rise both in Lebanon and in the region, Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut.

Smoke rises above Beirut's southern suburbs during an Israeli strike on September 27, 2024. Israeli bombing of Iran-backed Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon has killed hundreds of people this week, while the militant group has retaliated with rocket barrages. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel says it struck Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut

The strike followed days of intensifying Israeli strikes on Lebanon.

An injured child and others at a school in Beirut housing displaced people who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, Sep. 26, 2024.

At least 700 killed, 120,000 displaced as UN calls Lebanon situation ‘catastrophic'

The ongoing Israeli escalation in Lebanon has displaced nearly 120,000 in less than a week, prompting 16,100 Lebanese to enter Syria.

A man checks the destruction following an overnight Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Shebaa near along the border between the two countries, on Sept. 27, 2024.

Netanyahu softens position, says Israel discussing US-France cease-fire plan in Lebanon

On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will continue battling Hezbollah, but on Friday he indicated Israel will continue talks with the United States over a possible cease-fire in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem on September 2, 2024. (Photo by Ohad Zwigenberg / POOL / AFP) (Photo by OHAD ZWIGENBERG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

From yes to no to maybe: Behind Netanyahu's shifting stance on Lebanon cease-fire

Multifront conflicts are damaging Israel's economy, making a declaration of victory in Gaza by the Israeli prime minister a possibility at the UN.

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

A US Patriot missile defense system is exposed during a joint Israeli-US military exercise, "Juniper Cobra," at the Hatzor Airbase in Israel on March 8, 2018.

Israel: Pentagon finalizes $8.7B arms package as strikes on Lebanon continue

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brushed aside the Biden administration's call for a cease-fire just days after Washington quietly released $3.5 billion in additional funds for the Israeli military.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Adshit, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on September 23, 2024. The Israeli military on September 23 told people in Lebanon to move away from Hezbollah targets and vowed to carry out more "extensive and precise" strikes against the Iran-backed group. (Photo by Ammar Ammar / AFP) (Photo by AMMAR AMMAR/AFP via Getty Images)

US, France call for 21-day cease-fire on Israel-Lebanon border

US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said it was time to “give diplomacy a chance to succeed.”