Hezbollah

Tensions Heightened Between Lebanon and Iran Following the Iran Aircraft Issue

Tensions between Lebanon and Iran heightened on Friday after a Lebanese decision to prevent two Iranian planes from landing at Beirut’s International Airport (BIA), which led to protests along the airport road and required intervention from the Lebanese Army (LAF). The aircraft in question were operated by Mahan Air, a private Iranian ...

At the Lebanon-Syria Border, the New Syrian Authorities Are Hunting Down Traffickers Linked to Hezbollah

In a mountainous region between Syria and Lebanon, once controlled by smugglers linked to the Lebanese Hezbollah, a Syrian security official has a padlock broken on an abandoned building, revealing a newly discovered drug factory left to deteriorate. In the Qousseir region, located in the Homs province in eastern Syria, the new authorities ...

FM: A Once-Dominant Lebanese Political Force in Transition

The Future Movement (FM) is a Lebanese political party founded in the 1990s by Rafic Hariri, a prominent businessman and former Prime Minister of Lebanon. After Hariri’s assassination in 2005, his son, Saad Hariri, assumed leadership of the party, maintaining its role as a key political force representing Lebanon’s Sunni Muslim community. The ...

Rafic Hariri and the Rise of Political Sunnism

“No one can be greater than their country,” Rafic Hariri once remarked. Yet, two dominant forces in Lebanon challenged this notion: Hariri himself and Hezbollah. Their conflicting vision led to a violent confrontation—an all-out clash of titans—one that reached its climax 20 years ago, on February 14, 2005, when the former ...

The War Ended Today

Lebanon is preparing to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the civil war, which started on April 13, 1975, and lasted for more than 15 years. The actual date of the war’s end, October 13, 1990, was not the end of the crisis. The end of the war means three parallel things. The first is the withdrawal of weapons from all ...

Lebanon: France Proposes the Deployment of UNIFIL for a Definitive Israeli Withdrawal

France has proposed that some soldiers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), including French troops, be deployed in positions in southern Lebanon to allow for a "complete and definitive" withdrawal of Israel, announced Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Thursday. "The ceasefire has been extended until February 18, the ...

Berri Rejects Any Israeli Presence After Scheduled Pullout

With just five days remaining before the scheduled Israeli pullout on February 18, Speaker Nabih Berri revealed that United States officials informed him that while Israeli forces would vacate the villages where they maintain a presence in the south, they would remain in five key positions – a development that has been the subject of ongoing ...

Violent Protests in Beirut as Authorities Block Flight from Tehran

The issue of Lebanese citizens stranded at Tehran airport is about to be resolved. Middle East Airlines will charter a flight on Thursday night to bring them back to Beirut on Friday, according to the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (GDCA). Lebanon banned a plane from the Iranian company Mahan Air to fly to Beirut, on Thursday. This measure ...

Southern Lebanon: Will Israel Extend Its Military Presence?

As the deadline approaches for Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, a fragile calm persists in the region. The Ceasefire Monitoring Committee has been informed that the Israeli army has requested to remain in certain positions in southern Lebanon until February 28. The Lebanese side has firmly rejected this request. Additionally, ...

The Many Interpretations of Morgan Ortagus’ Missile

Morgan Ortagus landed in Lebanon like a missile. One must set aside the sexist remarks that were little more than admiration of her beauty, and the crude jokes along the lines of “do as you please, beautiful”—the kind of comments we thought belonged to a bygone era, only to realize that they remain deeply ingrained in the Lebanese ...

Russian Ambassador to Lebanon: Our Country Is Ready to Provide Assistance to Lebanon

Russia has expressed its readiness to assist Lebanon in its post-conflict recovery process. On Tuesday, the Russian Ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Rudakov, stated that Moscow is prepared to consider any official request from Beirut in this regard. In an interview with the Russian news agency Sputnik, Rudakov emphasized the strong bilateral ...

The Pressing Challenges and Deadlines Facing Salam’s Government

Nawaf Salam’s cabinet is one of the fastest-formed governments in the past three decades. Just 26 days after Salam was tasked with forming a government—based on the criteria he set, chiefly excluding partisan ministers—and following his agreement with President Joseph Aoun, he successfully formed his cabinet, which includes competent ...