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Lebanon

Lebanon

December 23, 2025

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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.

Rabih DAHER / AFP via Getty Images

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

The second round of civilian-led talks between Israel and Lebanon focused on the economic track while also addressing the removal of Hezbollah's weapons.

Latest News

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)

Syria foils major arms smuggling attempt to Lebanon: What we know

The Internal Security Directorate in the Zabadani area of rural Damascus thwarted an attempt to smuggle a shipment of weapons and seized large quantities of RPG shells that were hidden in an organized manner and prepared for smuggling towards Lebanon, on Dec. 17, 2025.

Analysis

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

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

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

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

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Lebanese President Michel Aoun at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Pool - RC1618737240

Russia, Lebanon seek synergy in projects to rebuild Syria

Moscow and Beirut each see potential benefits in working together to secure lucrative reconstruction contracts in Syria.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters via a screen during a rally marking al-Quds Day, (Jerusalem Day) in Beirut, Lebanon May 31, 2019. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RC196CD3C190

Why US sanctions won’t affect Hezbollah’s popular support

US sanctions on the Lebanese Hezbollah group appear to have affected the party’s various wings financially, including the construction association known as Jihad al-Binaa, but popular support and projects are still going strong.

(L-R) Musicians Haig Papazian, Carl Gerges and Hamed Sinno of Mashrou' Leila pose for a picture on November 1, 2017 in New York.
The symbol of solidarity brought a harsh backlash. As Lebanese rockers Mashrou' Leila played in Cairo, fans hoisted in the air rainbow flags, the global emblem of gay equality. The open-air festival on September 22 passed peacefully. But as pictures of the flags spread, Egyptian authorities launched roundups of the gay community, arresting dozens of people, with rights groups sayi

Why Mashrou' Leila is banned from Lebanon's Byblos festival

Organizers of the Byblos festival gave in to pressure from church officials, politicians and online groups, announcing that they had canceled the Lebanese rock band Mashrou’ Leila’s concert.

Lawyer couple use own wedding to advocate for civil marriage in Lebanon

A high-profile civil marriage between two lawyers is pushing Lebanon's new interior minister to make a choice on civil unions in the country.

'Broken Wings' carry Khalil Gibran home to Lebanon

Addressing issues of patriarchy, immigration and religious power, beloved writer Kahlil Gibran’s century-old novel 'Broken Wings' and a musical based on it are powerfully relevant today.

Lebanon’s air pollution nears alarming level

Under new austerity measures and budget cuts, Lebanon’s Ministry of Environment was forced to close its air monitoring stations across the country, raising the concerns of experts amid high levels of pollution.

Will this mall put Beirut's fruit vendors out of business?

A new mall for produce, scheduled to be opened next year, will test Beirut's attachment to traditional markets and street vendors.

A general a view of the Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq, November 28, 2017. Picture taken November 28, 2017. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani - RC13A041D7F0

Iraq plans to launch pipelines to export oil through Jordan, Syria

Iraq plans to diversify its oil exports via new pipelines through Jordan and Syria.

Meet the 'fast and furious' of Lebanon

Leila Nasrallah developed a passion for cars and driving at the age of 13 and today has helped assemble a community of fellow enthusiasts who meet every day to talk cars, race each other and drift.

Is Lebanon caught in the crossfire of the current US-Iranian standoff?

With Iranian-backed Hezbollah playing a role in Lebanon's government, how much might the country suffer in case of a military confrontation between Washington and Tehran?

Why Lebanon is against Kushner's deal of the century

Lebanon supports the two-state solution for Palestinians and rejects the Trump administration's economic deal of the century.

Baalbek: symbol of power or living city?

The “Baalbek: Archives of an Eternity” exhibition collected an unprecedented number of objects from the ancient Lebanese city, exploring the interplay of power and people through the millennia.