This is Beirut

Six Decades Without the State: Southern Lebanon’s Long Shadow of Militias

Marwan El-Amine, 24/04 16:10 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lebanon South Lebanon Amal Hassan Nasrallah Hezbollah

For nearly 60 years, the Shia of southern Lebanon have known only the rule of militias. This reality dates to 1969, when the Lebanese state ceded part of its sovereignty to Palestinian armed groups, allowing them to launch attacks against Israel. Since then, the region has fallen under a succession of armed actors, culminating in the firm ...

Berri Navigates Lebanon’s Ceasefire Opening

Samar El-Kadi, 23/04 21:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Lebanon Ceasefire Amal Donald Trump Ain el-Tineh

A fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire has opened a narrow political window for Lebanon, with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s stance on the talks evolving amid diplomatic contacts with Saudi Arabia. The latest came in a phone call with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud hours before a second round of talks with Israel on ...

Iran Says Won't Reopen Hormuz as Long as U.S. Blockade Remains

This is Beirut, 23/04 08:05 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Donald Trump Emmanuel Macron Lebanon Amal Gulf

Iran's vow not to reopen the Strait of Hormuz -- so long as a U.S. naval blockade remained in place -- was held into Thursday despite a ceasefire extension, as the Gulf nation announced the seizure of two ships trying to cross the strategic waterway. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said late Wednesday that it had also "directed 31 vessels ...

Al-Akhbar Journalist Killed in Airstrike in Southern Lebanon

This is Beirut, 23/04 01:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon South Lebanon Amal Hezbollah Israel

A Lebanese journalist working for the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Akhbar News was killed in an Israeli airstrike and another was wounded on Wednesday while they were working near the border with Israel, according to their employer and rescuers. The civil defence agency's press office said rescuers were "able to recover the body of martyred journalist ...

Amal Leader Condemns Gunfire in Beirut

This is Beirut, 17/04 13:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Amal Nawaf Salam Lebanon Hezbollah Saudi Arabia

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, leader of Lebanon’s Amal party, voiced support on Friday for national unity, condemning incidents of celebratory gunfire in Beirut last night as the Shia political community navigates its first day of the ceasefire since March 2. Berri said that indiscriminate gunfire in the capital was ...

Beirut: A Safe and Weapon-Free City

Claudia Groeling, 16/04 17:10 - Reading : less than a minute

Amal Hezbollah

In Beirut, MPs from across political lines met to discuss declaring the capital a weapons-free city and restricting arms exclusively to state control. MP Fouad Makhzoumi: Called for army deployment in Beirut and the southern suburbs and activating coordination mechanisms to keep the capital free of weapons. MP Ghassan Hasbani: Said effective ...

Amal Boycotts Hezbollah-Backed Protests Amid Rising Tensions in Lebanon

This is Beirut, 11/04 17:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Hezbollah Amal Nawaf Salam Lebanon Joseph Aoun

Following a wave of protests by supporters of Hezbollah throughout the week, culminating on Saturday, the Amal Movement announced it would not participate in the demonstrations and urged its supporters to boycott them. In a statement, Amal warned that insults directed at state leadership risk fueling internal unrest, stressing that political ...

Beirut Weapons Ban: Too Late to Restore State Control?

Claudia Groeling, 10/04 16:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Lebanese Army Nawaf Salam Lebanon Amal Hezbollah

Lebanon’s government on Thursday instructed security forces to restrict weapons in Beirut exclusively to state institutions. The move came one day after Israel launched its most intense and coordinated wave of airstrikes on Lebanon since the start of the war, hitting more than 100 targets across the country. "The army and security forces are ...

Hezbollah Emerged from Iran’s Revolution, Not “Resistance” to Israel

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, 07/04 11:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Hezbollah Israel Lebanese Army Lebanon Amal

A false claim, now common in Western media and academia, portrays Hezbollah as having emerged in response to Israel’s 1982 invasion and subsequent occupation of Lebanon. In reality, Hezbollah arose in the wake of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution as part of an effort to establish an Islamic state in a Lebanon fractured by warring militias. Since ...

Iran's Ambassador Won't Leave Lebanon Despite Expulsion: Diplomatic Source

This is Beirut, 29/03 19:05 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon Nawaf Salam Amal Hezbollah Israel

Iran's ambassador will not leave Lebanon despite being declared persona non grata and ordered to leave the country by Sunday, an Iranian diplomatic source told AFP. "The ambassador will not leave Lebanon, in accordance with the wishes of the speaker of parliament Nabih Berri and of Hezbollah," the source said, speaking on condition ...

Hezbollah Boycotts Cabinet Session Over Iran Ambassador Expulsion

This is Beirut, 26/03 17:45 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hezbollah USA Lebanon Amal Israel

Ministers from Hezbollah and its ally Amal boycotted Lebanon's cabinet session on Thursday in protest after the government declared the Iranian ambassador persona non grata, a Lebanese official told AFP. The two Shia parties have a combined four ministers, while one independent Shia minister was instead present at the meeting, the official said, ...

Shiite-Majority Region Rejects Amal, Hezbollah Aid Role

This is Beirut, 19/03 13:05 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Amal Baalbeck Hezbollah Hermel Aid Council of the South

The Union of Associations of Baalbek-Hermel, along with several NGOs assisting displaced people, has voiced opposition to transferring displacement aid to the Council for the South, citing concerns over corruption. In a statement, the union pointed to what it described as the council’s poor track record over the past two decades, arguing that ...

Amal