Lebanon

Aoun: State Monopoly on Arms “Irreversible”

President Joseph Aoun asserted on Tuesday that the Cabinet’s decision to prohibit illegal military and security activities is a sovereign and final measure that “cannot be reversed,” in reference to Hezbollah’s rocket fire toward Israel. Speaking during a meeting with the Quintet Committee, Aoun reiterated that the government’s ...

Time for Lebanon’s De-Hezbollahfication

Lebanon has tasted the nightmare Israel faced on October 7, 2023. Iran’s Islamist regime and its proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas, are irrational actors who cannot be trusted with a single bullet, let alone entire arsenals, regardless of the paper promises they sign. Israel recognized this existential threat and has since been taking preemptive ...

Escalation Intensifies as Israeli Strikes and Hezbollah Drone Attacks Rock Southern Lebanon

Israeli raids resumed on Tuesday across Beirut’s southern suburbs, southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, marking a sharp escalation in tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. An additional Israeli strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday morning, following a tense night of evacuation warnings and air raids. In southern Lebanon, Israeli ...

IDF Announces Forward Defensive Operation and New "Buffer Zone" in Southern Lebanon

The Israeli military says it has launched what it describes as a “forward defensive operation” to protect communities in northern Israel, confirming that forces are currently operating inside southern Lebanon. In a statement issued following what it called a situational assessment, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the operation is ...

Hezbollah Says Attack on Israel was 'Defensive Act'

Hezbollah said on Tuesday that its rocket and drone attack on Israel was a "defensive act" after more than a year of Israeli strikes despite a ceasefire. "For fifteen months, Israeli aggression against Lebanon has continued through killing, destruction, bulldozing, and all forms of criminal acts," a statement from the Iran-backed group said, ...

Israel Intensifies Campaign in Lebanon Against Hezbollah as Israeli Army Plans Next Steps

Over the course of Monday following Hezbollah’s strikes on Israel, the Israeli army stated that it struck around 70 targets in Lebanon within 24 hours. Israeli jets carried out attacks across Beirut’s southern suburbs, southern and eastern Lebanon. As of Monday evening, the Lebanese Ministry of Health reports that at least 52 were ...

Israeli Army Issues 18 Urgent Evacuation Warnings Across Lebanon

The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, announced on Monday that the military has issued 18 urgent evacuation warnings for buildings it says are used by Hezbollah across several areas in Lebanon. The warnings state that Israeli forces will soon strike what they describe as Hezbollah military infrastructure, ...

Lebanese Cabinet's Statement Following Urgent Session on Escalation

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam after the Cabinet session at Baabda Palace: “The Council of Ministers, in implementation of the Constitution, the National Accord Document, and the government’s ministerial statement, and after rejecting and condemning the rocket-launching operation claimed yesterday by Hezbollah, as it contradicts the principle ...

Cabinet Demands Hezbollah Disarm “Immediately”

In an extraordinary session held at Baabda Palace, Lebanon’s Council of Ministers on Monday adopted sweeping decisions aimed at asserting state authority over armed activity within Lebanese territory, following renewed rocket launches from southern Lebanon and escalating regional tensions. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced that the ...

Israeli Raids Pound Beirut’s Southern Suburbs and South Lebanon

Renewed Israeli airstrikes targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, following a wave of overnight raids from Sunday into Monday that struck the Dahye area and multiple locations across southern Lebanon. Shortly after the latest strike, Israeli army Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the military had targeted “a ...

Summary: Israel Strikes Targets around Lebanon after First Hezbollah Strikes on Israel Since 2024

Al Arabiya reported that Haj Mohammed Raad, the head of the Hezbollah parliamentary group and deputy to Hezbollah’s secretary-general Naim Qassem, was killed in the Israeli airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs.  On Monday morning, Hezbollah fired rockets and drones across Lebanon’s southern border into Israel, marking ...