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Lebanon

Lebanon

December 17, 2025

Beirut 4:23 pm

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets with US special envoy Tom Barrack, Jerusalem, Dec. 15 2

Analysis

Trump's Syria envoy Barrack tests Israel's patience as Netanyahu pushes back

The struggle between the Israeli prime minister and the envoy is an acknowledgment by Israeli leaders that "what will happen is what Trump wants to happen."

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

Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Youssef Rajji meets with Maj. Gen. Diodato Abagnara, UNIFIL head of mission and force commander, at the UN peacekeeping headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, Oct. 24, 2025.

Lebanon FM lashes out at Iran amid ambassador impasse: What to know

Lebanese officials have grown more frustrated at Tehran over its perceived meddling in Lebanon’s internal affairs by making repeated comments about its ally, Hezbollah, and the importance of its weapons, at a time the country is working to extend control over all arms.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji visits the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, on October 24, 2025, touring border villages and the Blue Line aboard a UNIFIL helicopter as part of efforts to assess the security situation along the frontier. (Photo by Courtney Bonneau / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by COURTNEY BONNEAU/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon's FM snubs Iran, turns down invitation to visit Tehran: What to know

Youssef Rajji declined an invitation from his Iranian counterpart to visit Tehran, saying, "The appropriate conditions for such a visit were not present.”

TOPSHOT - Syrian and Lebanese people in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli celebrate on December 9, 2024, after Islamist-led rebels declared that they have taken the Syrian capital in a lightning offensive, sending President Bashar al-Assad fleeing and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria. (Photo by Fathi AL-MASRI / AFP) (Photo by FATHI AL-MASRI/AFP via Getty Images)

Clashes and protests in Lebanon over Syria's anniversary: What we know

As celebrations erupted in Lebanon to commemorate the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Hezbollah supporters held counter-rallies.

Latest News

Analysis

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

Simon Karam

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

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.

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

Former Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves le Drian arrives at a state dinner upon the visit of United Arab Emirates President at the Grand Trianon estate near the Palace of Versailles, south west of Paris, on July 18, 2022. - French President welcomes the United Arab Emirates President on July 18, 2022, whose state visit "will confirm the strong ties" between France and the rich Gulf oil country, the Elysee Palace announced on July 14, 2022. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by LUDO

France's Le Drian visits Lebanon in bid to break presidential deadlock

French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian’s visit to Beirut comes as parliament failed for the 12th time to elect a president.

Carlos Ghosn

Carlos Ghosn files $1 billion lawsuit in Lebanon against Nissan

The lawsuit reportedly accuses the Japanese carmaker and two other companies as well as a dozen individuals of crimes including defamation, slander, libel and fabricating material evidence.

A man holds up an Argentinian flag during a demo at Mayo square, in Buenos Aires on January 19, 2015, against the death of Argentine public prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was found shot dead earlier, just days after accusing President Cristina Kirchner of obstructing a probe into a 1994 Jewish center bombing. Nisman, 51, who was just hours away from testifying at a congressional hearing, was found dead overnight in his apartment in the trendy Puerto Madero neighbourhood of the capital. "I can confirm that a

Lebanon: Argentina issues arrest warrant for 4 Hezbollah operatives in AMIA bombing

The four suspects are linked to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and injured hundreds.

Lebanese lawmakers speak prior to the start of the 12th parliamentary session to elect a new president

Lebanon lawmakers fail to elect president at 12th attempt

Agence France-Presse

Hannibal Gadhafi

Why is Libya’s Hannibal Gadhafi on hunger strike in Lebanon?

Hannibal Gadhafi’s health began to deteriorate after he began a hunger strike to protest his detention without trial in 2015. Meanwhile, an Amnesty International report warns of poor conditions in Lebanese prisons.

Jihad Azour, director of the Middle East and Central Asia at the International Monetary Fund, gives an interview at Dubai's International Financial Center, on May 1, 2018, in Dubai.

Meet Lebanon's Jihad Azour, Christian opposition candidate for president

After months of deadlock, Lebanon’s main Christian parties and opposition converged on the name of Jihad Azour, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia office and a former finance minister, as their preferential candidate for the presidency.

Fishing boats are moored at the port of Karantina, north of Beirut, as their owners protest against the continued use of the nearby Karantina landfill waste dump site and its resultant waste pollution harming the local fishing industry, May 24, 2018.

In Lebanon, women break barriers by tinkering fishing nets to secure income

Lebanese women whose husbands are fishermen are joining them at sea and making and repairing fishing nets to secure an income for their families.

A vehicle of the UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) Italian contingent patrols in the village of Seddiqine in the southern Lebanese district of Tyre, from near where four rockets were fired towards Israel, on May 19, 2021. - The Israeli army confirmed the attack, saying it retaliated with artillery fire. It is the third time rockets have been launched from Lebanese territory towards Israel since hostilities flared between the Jewish state and armed Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip last wee

Lebanon's Hezbollah denies links to suspects in killing of UN Irish peacekeeper

Hezbollah officials have denied court findings that five people formally accused of killing an Irish soldier of the UNIFIL last year were members of Hezbollah.

Residents stand on their balcony at the Wavel Palestinian refugee camp (also known as the Jalil camp) in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, on April 24, 2020, after cases of infection by the novel coronavirus were detected there. - The residents of the Wavel camp were tested after a member of a household, a Palestinian refugee from Syria, was admitted to the state-run Rafic Hariri hospital in the capital Beirut for demonstrating COVID-19 symptoms. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Mysterious Lebanon blast kills Palestinian fighters, Israel denies involvement

Israel denied it was behind the mysterious blast that killed five members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command in Lebanon's Bekka Valley region.

A banner bearing the picture of former Lebanese premier Saad Hariri and a slogan in Arabic which reads "Allah, Hariri, Tariq al-Jdideh" and another depicting Saudi Arabia's King Salman (R) and his son Crown Prince Mohammed with a slogan "Beirut remains Arab despite the haters", hang on a street in the Tariq al-Jdideh neighbourhood of the capital Beirut, on April 27, 2022. - Lebanon's Sunni Muslim community is gearing up for May 15's parliamentary polls without strong leadership for the first time in decades

Who is the Saudi citizen kidnapped in Lebanon, rescued in army operation?

The kidnapping and swift rescue come at a time Lebanon is working to mend ties with Saudi Arabia.

A Lebanese anti-government protester hold a mask of Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh during a protest in front of the central bank headquarters in Beirut to protest against the economic policies of the bank on November 27, 2019. - Since September, debt-saddled Lebanon has had a liquidity crisis, with banks rationing the supply of dollars. As a result, the dollar exchange rate on the parallel market has topped 2,000 Lebanese pounds -- a spike from the pegged rate of 1,507. (Photo by JOSEPH EID /

Double trouble: Lebanon’s Salameh gets second arrest warrant from Germany

Riad Salameh is under increased scrutiny in Europe on suspicions of money laundering at a time Lebanon is grappling with a deteriorating financial and economic crisis.

Lebanese Hezbollah fighters take part in cross-border raids, part of large-scale military exercise, in Aaramta bordering Israel on May 21, 2023 ahead of the anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon’s Hezbollah stages war games, unveils drone weapon against Israel

The exercises elicited condemnation from local parties in Lebanon.