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Lebanon

Lebanon

December 23, 2025

Beirut 1:45 pm

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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

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pauses as he speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington, U.S., March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas - RC1A4CD7AAF0

Pompeo to push anti-Iran message in trip to Kuwait, Israel, Lebanon

In his trip to Israel and Lebanon this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will emphasize the threat from Iran and Iranian-backed proxies.

Comics expo draws crowds in Beirut

A Beirut comic and graphic novel exhibition promoted the educational and journalistic values of the art form in the Middle East.

Women break their silence at Lebanon's monodrama festival

The Lebanon International Women Monodrama Festival, which opens on International Women's Day, provides a platform for female voices to be heard without interruption or suppression.

Lebanese architect blazes new path

For Beirut-born architect Amale Andraos, it is still surprisingly difficult to operate as a woman in architecture.

Civil marriage resurfaces as hot topic in Lebanon’s politics

Newly appointed Minister of Interior Raya al-Hassan recently said she will engage a serious dialogue on civil marriage in Lebanon, which sparked backlash from religious authorities.

Academy fights discrimination with art, music in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley

Peace of Art, a humanitarian organization and fine arts academy, offers the people of the northern Bekaa Valley an artistic and pacifist outlet in a region plagued by conflict.

Meet the women in Lebanon’s government

All eyes are on the four women appointed to Cabinet positions in Lebanon's new government, a record high in the country plagued by economic and other longstanding issues.

As sanctions loom, Syria looks to retrieve funds from abroad

Damascus wants the country's banks to develop incentives to bring Syrian funds back, especially those deposited in Lebanese banks.

Lebanese youth open zero-waste market

Active during the 2015 trash crisis, Lebanon’s younger generation are pushing for environmentally friendly products, seen in the opening of Recycle Lebanon’s EcoSouk.

Revolution at 40: Have Iranian regional policies come full circle?

Forty years after the Islamic Revolution, the shah’s view of Iran and its role in the region is paradoxically echoed in the foreign policy debate by those with a more revolutionary perspective.

Competition brings green to Beirut

The “I Green Beirut” competition brought together designers, urban planners and artists to present ideas for transforming three areas around the city into new green spaces.

Palestinian students stripped of US scholarships

Palestinian students studying abroad on US-sponsored scholarships have found themselves in limbo after the Palestinian Authority declined further US assistance following enactment of the US Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act.