Lebanon

Israel Maintains Strikes on Lebanon Despite U.S.-Iran Ceasefire

Israel continued airstrikes across southern Lebanon on Wednesday, even as it confirmed a halt to military operations against Iran under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The move comes amid reports that Hezbollah has suspended its attacks for now, creating an asymmetrical reality on the Lebanese front where Israeli operations persist. Despite this ...

Amid Hezbollah’s War, Lebanon Faces a Test of Sovereignty

Hezbollah plunging Lebanon into yet another war with Israel came as no surprise. For years, Lebanese officials and international partners have warned that Hezbollah’s unchecked militarization in the south was an invitation to catastrophe. Those warnings have become reality as Israel deepens its ground invasion to neutralize what it sees as an ...

Foreign Fighters Alongside Hezbollah: What Do We Know?

An Israeli drone strike near Naqoura in southern Lebanon last week raised fresh questions about whether foreign combatants, apart from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are fighting alongside Hezbollah. While Hezbollah announced that the fighters killed in the airstrike were from southern Lebanon, the Israeli military identified ...

Israel Backs U.S.-Iran Temporary Ceasefire, Says 'Does Not Include Lebanon'

Israel said Wednesday that a US-Iran ceasefire deal "does not include Lebanon", which was drawn into the war after Iran-backed group Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel. "The two-weeks ceasefire does not include Lebanon," the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. The statement contradicted an ...

Israel Halts Strike on Lebanon-Syria Crossing After U.S. Intervention

Israel paused plans to strike a key Lebanon-Syria border crossing after both countries urged the U.S. to keep the route open, a Lebanese source told Reuters Tuesday. The Israeli military had warned on April 4 that it would target the Masnaa crossing, the main land border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, “in the near future,” alleging that ...

Israel Military Says Completed Forward Deployment in South Lebanon

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had completed the deployment of ground troops along a "defense line" in southern Lebanon, where it is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah. The military has not given any geographical details on the furthest point to which its soldiers have advanced into Lebanese territory. Israeli media reported that the ...

How the Iran War Can Help Reorient Shia Identity

As the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran nears the limits of its original target bank, the contours of a new phase are beginning to emerge, one defined by the search for a political exit from the war. Discussions are no longer confined to closed-door deliberations but are now unfolding in public. Fundamental questions are emerging about ...

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

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 ...

Disarming Hezbollah's Ideology to Protect Lebanon's Future

The Iranian regime’s threats against U.S. educational institutions in the Middle East have raised alarm across the region, including in Lebanon, where a pro-Hezbollah journalist even spoke of the “benefits” of a potential attack on students in Beirut. Tehran’s bellicose language has been taken seriously by Washington. “Iran and its ...

Decapitation of Iranian Military and Intelligence Leadership: Timeline and Structure

Since the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran on February 28, a series of coordinated strikes by both countries has dramatically reshaped Iran’s military and political command structure. The U.S.-led Operation Epic Fury and Israel’s Operation Roaring Lion have systematically targeted senior Iranian officials, top advisors, ...

Makhzoumi: Peace with Israel Is Lebanon's Only Option, Hezbollah Must Be Dismantled

In an exclusive interview with This is Beirut, Parliamentarian Fouad Makhzoumi discussed critical issues in Lebanon: achieving peace with Israel through clear government mandates, fully disarming Hezbollah and cutting its funding, and restoring government control over security, aid, and reconstruction efforts. By Claudia Groeling and Kaline Antoun

Defiant Iran Ramps up Attacks After Trump Warning

Iran launched fresh attacks across the Middle East on Monday and threatened "devastating" retaliation, after US President Donald Trump's expletive-laced warning that Tehran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Israel, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates reported a barrage of missile and drone strikes early Monday. The attacks came as Tehran ramped ...