Lebanon

Lebanon Reclaims its Diplomacy from Hezbollah

The April 14 diplomatic meeting between Lebanon and Israel in Washington signals, however partially, a reassertion of Lebanese state authority over its own decision-making, while challenging Iranian influence in the country. Most significant is the fact that the meeting took place at all, a historic step given the ongoing war between Hezbollah and ...

Aoun Thanks U.S. for Ceasefire Efforts After Calls with Trump and Rubio

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday thanked the United States for its efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon, following separate phone calls with President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to an official statement. Aoun received a call from Rubio earlier in the day, during which he expressed appreciation for ...

Unified Message from Beirut MPs: Exclusive State Control and "weapons-Free" City

  In a show of cross-sectarian unity, Beirut MPs on Wednesday called for the capital to be placed fully under state control and declared a “weapons-free city” under the exclusive authority of the Lebanese Armed Forces and security agencies. “Beirut must be free of weapons, and we want to see the Lebanese army deployed in all the streets ...

Israel Strikes South of Beirut as Hezbollah Launches Rockets at Israel

Two Israeli strikes on Wednesday hit vehicles south of Beirut, state media reported, while Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel, soon after Lebanon and Israel agreed to continue holding direct talks.  The Israeli military also renewed its call for residents of a swathe of southern Lebanon to leave as it continues to bomb the area. Despite its ...

What Went Wrong for the Shia

The Shia have a problem. While many Sunni-majority states, from the Gulf states to Turkey, have achieved varying degrees of governance success and economic growth, Shia-led political projects have little to show for themselves. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, they have been at the center of wars, terrorist networks, and state failure even as ...

Rare Precedents for Lebanon-Israel Peace Talks

1949, Fragile Armistice The first Arab-Israeli war began on May 15, 1948, the day after the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel. Five countries -- Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq -- had rejected a UN plan adopted in November 1947 to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states and went to war against the new ...

U.S. State Department: Lebanon and Israel Agree to Continue Direct Negotiations

The U.S. Department of State released a statement on Tuesday following a trilateral meeting on April 14, 2026, stressing that all sides agreed to continue direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue. The meeting marked the first major high-level engagement between the governments of Israel and Lebanon since 1993, with the ...

Aoun Sees Israel Talks as Path to Ending Lebanon’s Suffering

Moments before direct Israel-Lebanon talks began in Washington, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Tuesday he hoped negotiations would mark “the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Lebanese in general, and of the people of the south in particular,” following weeks of war between Israel and Hezbollah. “Stability will not be ...

Israeli Ambassador to U.S.: Israel and Lebanon Moving Toward 'Complete Peace Treaty'

Lebanon and Israel engaged in the first round of United States-brokered talks in Washington DC today to discuss cooperation on Hezbollah disarmament. The talks were a major historic milestone, the first in-person meetings between Lebanese and Israeli representatives since 1993. Following two hours of talks, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel ...