Lebanon

Who Rises Next? Sunni Perspectives on the Muslim Brotherhood and President Al-Sharaa

In Lebanon today, the Sunni streets are largely leaderless, and many are searching for new direction. This Is Beirut went on the ground in Sunni areas to ask residents about the Muslim Brotherhood’s designation as a foreign terrorist organization and whether the Brotherhood or President Ahmed al-Sharaa can fill the leadership void. Many ...

Syria Says It Arrested Terrorist Cell and Seized Hezbollah-Linked Drones and Missiles in Rif Dimashq

Syria’s Ministry of the Interior announced that it cracked down on terrorist cells in the Rif Dimashq Governorate and captured military hardware and weapons linked to Hezbollah, according to a report from Nidaa al-Watan.  In the operation, internal security forces arrested all members of the cell and seized Hezbollah drones, missiles, and ...

Senior Hezbollah Official Wafiq Safa Steps Down as Qassem Reshapes Leadership

Wafiq Safa, the head of Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination unit, resigned from his position on Friday as Secretary General Naim Qassem has pushed to reshape the organization’s leadership, sources close to Reuters confirmed. Safa has maintained a senior position within Hezbollah since 1987 and was appointed to his role as a powerful ...

Lebanon and Syria Ink Deal on Prisoner Handover

Lebanon signed an agreement with Syria on Friday to hand around 300 convicts over to Damascus, a move seen as key to helping turn a new page in ties between the countries. Overcrowded Lebanese prisons host more than 2,200 Syrians held on various charges. Many of them are still awaiting trial, while hundreds accused of "terrorism" or ...

The Council of the South: Hezbollah and Amal’s Tool for Clientelism

The Council of the South was intended to be one of the Lebanese state’s key mechanisms for addressing the damage from wars with Israel, but it effectively became a partisan tool serving the Amal Movement and Hezbollah. It was established in 1970 primarily to help residents of southern Lebanon repair their homes and rebuild what had been ...

French FM: Iran Must Stop Being a 'Destabilizing Power'

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said during a visit to Lebanon that Iran should stop being a "destabilizing power", citing its nuclear program and support for "terrorist" groups that threaten regional and European countries. During a press conference in Beirut, where the government has committed to disarming the ...

Lebanon's Oldest Lock on Power Is the Speaker's Chair

Fortunate countries see their leaders come and go; in hapless ones, time ravages everything but their rulers. Lebanon is trapped in the latter camp, with one politician freezing his grip on power and the country’s chance for reform. The country’s banks collapsed and its currency crashed, the port exploded, half the youth emigrated, and whole ...

Graham Cuts Haykal Meeting Short After LAF Chief Refuses to Label Hezbollah Terrorist

Lebanese Armed Forces Chief of Defense Gen. Rodolphe Haykal’s Thursday meeting with Senator Lindsay Graham ended early after Haykal stated that he did not consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization. In a post on X describing his meeting, Graham stated that “I asked [Haykal] if he believes Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. He ...

Khamenei Adviser Sends Message to Hezbollah

In remarks carried by state-affiliated media, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, sent a message on Thursday to Hezbollah affirming Tehran’s willingness to face external threats. Velayati addressed the message to Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem following the death of Abdul Karim Nasrallah, ...

Aoun Orders Inquiry Into Israel’s Spraying of Unknown Substance in South Lebanon

President Joseph Aoun instructed the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday to investigate Israel’s spraying of an unknown substance on southern Lebanese land to document the violations for international bodies.  He declared that “these dangerous practices…require the international community and relevant United ...

U.S. Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Sanction Election Interference in Lebanon

U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on February 2 that would authorize President Trump to impose sanctions on foreign individuals or entities accused of interfering in Lebanon’s electoral process, including efforts to obstruct voting by Lebanese citizens living abroad. The legislation would allow the president, in consultation with senior ...