Lebanon

Israeli Drone Strike Kills Child and Injures Father
Israeli Drone Strike Kills Child and Injures Father

A child was killed and his father was seriously injured on Wednesday following an Israeli drone strike that targeted the courtyard of their home in the village of Touline, located in the Marjayoun district of southern Lebanon. Earlier on Wednesday, an Israeli drone dropped two sound bombs over the town of Khiam, while another launched a similar ...

The Lebanese Army Targets a Drug Network in the Bekaa
The Lebanese Army Targets a Drug Network in the Bekaa

As part of its security campaign against drug traffickers, the Lebanese Army launched a targeted operation early Wednesday morning in the Sharawneh neighborhood of Baalbeck. Intense clashes broke out between the military and suspected traffickers, during which the army carried out precision strikes using drones. The operation targeted a ...

Rodolphe Haykal in London: Military Cooperation and Regional Security
Rodolphe Haykal in London: Military Cooperation and Regional Security

The Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Rodolphe Haykal, took part for the first time in the annual meeting of the Dragon Group in the United Kingdom, at the invitation of his British counterpart, Admiral Tony Radakin. The Dragon Group is a strategic forum that brings together the chiefs of staff of the armed forces from several Gulf ...

Israel Says It Killed Hezbollah Operative in Bekaa
Israel Says It Killed Hezbollah Operative in Bekaa

The Israeli army said Wednesday that it had killed a Hezbollah operative in the Bekaa region of eastern Lebanon, who it said was directing militant cells in Syria. "Yesterday evening (Tuesday), the Israeli Air Force... struck Hossam Qasem Ghorab, a Hezbollah operative who operated from Lebanese territory to direct terrorist cells in ...

Lebanon Sets Year-End Deadline for Militia Disarmament
Lebanon Sets Year-End Deadline for Militia Disarmament

Lebanon has set a deadline of the end of this year for the disarmament of all militias, based on a disarmament roadmap to be prepared by the Lebanese Army and submitted to the Cabinet for review before August 31. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam following a nearly six-hour cabinet session held at the Baabda Presidential ...

Trading Arms for Power: Hezbollah’s Political Bargain
Op-edTrading Arms for Power: Hezbollah’s Political Bargain

The issue of Hezbollah’s weapons is no longer confined to a small elite who once represented a silent majority and feared Hezbollah’s refusal to constructively engage. Today, the weapons file is firmly on the table, openly discussed under sustained Arab and international pressure. The August 5 Cabinet session holds historic significance, on ...

America's Middle East Dilemma and Opportunity
Op-edAmerica's Middle East Dilemma and Opportunity

Whatever you think about events since October 2023, a fundamental shift in the balance of power has occurred in the Middle East. The dilemma for Washington and its regional partners is what to do now to bring lasting security for all those who in the past were compelled to live in the shadow of threats and violence by Iran and its Arab proxies. ...

Lebanon’s Cost of Living: A Nation Still Under Pressure
Lebanon’s Cost of Living: A Nation Still Under Pressure

As of June, Lebanon’s Consumer Price Index recorded an annual increase of around 15%, a sharp drop from the staggering 253.55% seen during the same period in 2023. This decline is largely due to the stabilization of the exchange rate following months of severe devaluation of the Lebanese pound (LBP). Yet, despite this slowdown in inflation, ...

Can Hezbollah Still Claim Resistance With Its Arsenal Depleted?
Can Hezbollah Still Claim Resistance With Its Arsenal Depleted?

Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Naim Qassem, warned on July 30 that any withdrawal of the group’s forces from south of the Litani River would be “a gain for Israel,” insisting that the party’s weapons remained “a domestic Lebanese matter.” Speaking at a memorial ceremony marking the first anniversary of the death of senior Hezbollah ...

Lebanon’s Death by a Thousand Hezbollah Cuts
Op-edLebanon’s Death by a Thousand Hezbollah Cuts

It took Lebanon’s cabinet six months to even begin discussing the fate of Hezbollah’s arsenal. Whatever decision emerges will go to the Higher Defense Council for further deliberation and planning, then to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to devise an implementation strategy. If each step takes as long as the first, disarming Hezbollah could be ...