Lebanon

Al-Akhbar Journalist Killed in Airstrike in Southern Lebanon

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 ...

Beyond Mediation: How Washington Is Recasting Lebanon–Israel Negotiations

The U.S. is set to mediate a second round of direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials on Thursday as part of the first such series of direct negotiations between the two sides since 1993. These diplomatic engagements come nearly a year and a half after the previous Lebanon-Israel ceasefire framework. In November 2024 under the Biden ...

Israel President Says He Dreams of ‘Driving Straight to Beirut’

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Wednesday he hopes Israelis will one day be able to travel freely to Beirut, speaking to foreign diplomats in Jerusalem ahead of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon. Speaking to a gathering that included envoys from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Herzog said Israel was “eager” to help shape a ...

Maritime Incidents Underscore Fragility of Trump-Extended Iran Ceasefire

A series of maritime incidents occurred on Wednesday in and around the strategic Strait of Hormuz, at the heart of the standoff between United States and Iran, highlighting the fragility of the truce unilaterally extended by Donald Trump with Iran. Just hours after the U.S. president announced the extension of the ceasefire, which has been in ...

Israel FM Calls on Lebanon to 'Work Together' with Israel Against Hezbollah

Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday urged Beirut to make joint efforts with Israel to counter Hezbollah on the eve of talks between the two countries set to resume in Washington. It will be the second preparatory meeting paving the way for direct negotiations. "Tomorrow the direct talks between Israel and Lebanon will resume in Washington, DC. ...

Syrian Hezbollah Fighter Surrenders to Israeli Army

A Syrian Hezbollah fighter surrendered himself on Wednesday to the Israeli Defense Forces following an attempt to seek refuge in the Christian village of Rmaych, a Lebanese border town currently inside Israel’s 5-10 kilometer forward defense line, a local official told This Is Beirut. The fighter, Syrian-national Abdullah Ahmad El Obed, ...

Israeli Strike on Lebanon's Bekaa Kills One

An Israeli strike on Lebanon's Bekaa region killed one person and wounded two others on Wednesday, Lebanese state media reported, despite an ongoing truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. "One person was killed and two others were wounded as a result of an attack carried out by an enemy drone at dawn on the outskirts of Al-Jabur in West ...

When Aoun Meets Netanyahu

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in the coming weeks, according to President Trump, who said he would invite both leaders. However, Aoun appears poised to follow a political path that will be rejected by Israel. Lebanon has vilified Israel for so long that a Lebanese ...

IDF Delivers Aid to Christian Border Towns in South Lebanon

Humitarian supplies were deposited by the Israeli Army near several Christian southern Lebanese border towns on Saturday, including Rmeish, Ain Ebel, and Debel, in a cross-border arrangement organized to avoid direct contact with Lebanese citizens, local officials told This Is Beirut. Ayoub Khreish, mayor of Ain Ebel, a border town currently on ...

Israel Says Applying Diplomatic, Military Pressure to Disarm Hezbollah

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that his country's campaign in Lebanon relied on both military and diplomatic pressure to disarm Iran-allied Hezbollah. "The overarching goal of the campaign in Lebanon is to disarm Hezbollah and remove the threat to the northern communities (of Israel), through a combination of military and ...

Will Lebanon Finally Break Its Cycle of Inaction?

As Lebanon and Israel prepare to deepen diplomatic contact amid a 10-day truce, attention is shifting to what comes next, including the fate of Hezbollah’s weapons and whether the ceasefire marks a temporary pause or a strategic shift. During the war, both President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam navigated a perilous political ...