This is Beirut - Lebanon

‘Moment Could Be Fleeting’: U.S. Congressional Hearing on Curbing Hezbollah

This is Beirut, 03/02 19:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

United States Lebanon Hezbollah Disarmament Reform

Policy experts told the U.S. Congress that dismantling Hezbollah’s malign influence in Lebanon will require leveraging Washington’s support for Beirut to secure measurable progress on the militant group’s disarmament, as well as political and financial reforms, thereby strengthening state sovereignty. On Tuesday, the House Foreign Affairs ...

Military Court Sentences Nouh Zeaiter in Limited Rulings, Leaving Broader Case Open

This is Beirut, 03/02 17:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon NouhZeaiter Hezbollah MilitaryCourt

Lebanon’s Permanent Military Court on Tuesday issued its first batch of rulings in the sprawling judicial case of Nouh Zeaiter, convicting him in four security-related cases and sentencing him to one month in prison for each, while acquitting him in three files and dropping prosecution in 33 others due to the statute of limitations. The court ...

Hezbollah’s Qassem Rejects State Authority, Frames Conflict as Existential Battle

This is Beirut, 03/02 15:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah Israel Lebanese Army United States Naim Qassem

Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem on Tuesday adopted a defiant tone toward Lebanese officials and state institutions, rejecting any internal pressure on the group and reaffirming Hezbollah’s commitment to armed confrontation, while framing regional tensions as an existential battle against what he described as American and Israeli ...

January 2026: What the Surge in Israeli Strikes in Lebanon Signals

This is Beirut, 03/02 13:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah Israel IDF

January 2026 marked a sharp escalation in Israeli military activity in Lebanon, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducting 87 airstrikes, more than double the number recorded in December 2025. It was the most active month since the ceasefire of November 27, 2024, underscoring a shift in operational tempo even as Israel maintains that its ...

Aoun: Exclusivity of Weapons Is a Non-Negotiable

This is Beirut, 03/02 13:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon Joseph Aoun Nabih Berry Nawaf Salam Parliament

President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday said that the renewed confidence and support of foreign countries toward Lebanon is a natural outcome of ongoing efforts to rebuild the state on solid foundations, stressing that the rule of law and the exclusivity of weapons remain irreversible pillars of his agenda. In his remarks during a meeting with a ...

Lebanon PM Says Won't Allow Country to be Dragged into New Conflict

This is Beirut, 03/02 11:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Lebanon Nawaf Salam Dubai World Government United Arab Emirates

Lebanon's prime minister said Tuesday he will not allow his country to be dragged into a new conflict, after Hezbollah warned any attack on its Iranian backer would be an attack on the group. "We will never allow anyone to drag the country into another adventure," Nawaf Salam said during the World Governments Summit in Dubai, in ...

The End of the Middle East’s Oil Bonanza

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, 03/02 09:10 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Middle East Lebanon Bahrain Damascus Gulf

The Middle East has finally arrived at the grim reckoning long barreling toward it: a ruinous collapse of oil revenues that renders government deficits utterly unsustainable. Among the wealthy Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, four are running persistent annual budget deficits that are eroding their sovereign wealth reserves and plunging ...

U.S. Policy Toward Lebanon: Obstacles to Dismantling Hezbollah’s Grip on Power

This is Beirut, 03/02 09:00 - Reading : less than a minute

Lebanon Hezbollah Middle East Washington

At 10:00 a.m. EST, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa will convene a hearing titled “U.S. Policy Toward Lebanon: Obstacles to Dismantling Hezbollah’s Grip on Power” to assess the political, security, and institutional challenges confronting U.S. policy in Lebanon. The hearing will feature ...

Joseph Aoun in Spain: the Army, UNIFIL, and Regional Stability at the Heart of the Discussions.

This is Beirut, 02/02 16:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanese Army Lebanon Joseph Aoun Spain Résolution 1701

President Joseph Aoun on Monday outlined the achievements of the Lebanese Army (LAF) south of the Litani River, stressing the restoration of the state’s exclusive authority in the area, alongside ongoing efforts to secure borders and combat smuggling, drug trafficking, and illegal immigration. In his remarks following a meeting with Spanish ...

The Shia Duo Under Strain: How Iran’s Crisis Is Realigning Amal and Hezbollah

Amal Chmouny , 02/02 14:00 - Reading : 8 minute(s)

Amal Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah Lebanon Joseph Aoun

When Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri met with Joseph Aoun on January 23, at the height of Hezbollah’s rhetorical campaign against the president, the gesture spoke volumes. As Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem rejected disarmament and warned of civil war, Berri moved to restore communication channels, differentiating his Amal ...

Israeli Strikes Destroy Hezbollah Weapons' Depot, kill Operative

This is Beirut, 02/02 13:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon Baalbeck Hezbollah Israel Beqaa Tyre South Lebanon

Israel struck a vehicle near Phoenicia University on the Zahrani–Tyre highway in southern Lebanon. Shortly after the attack, the Israeli army said it had targeted a Hezbollah member in the Saida district, north of the Litani River. The raids killed one person and injured eight others. Later in the day, the Israeli army issued an urgent ...

UNIFIL Says Israeli Aerial Operation Disrupted Peacekeeping Activities

This is Beirut, 02/02 12:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanese Army UN Security Council United Nations Lebanon Israel UNIFIL

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) announced on Monday that Israeli forces informed the mission a day earlier of plans to conduct an aerial operation involving the release of what Israel described as a non-toxic chemical substance over areas near the Blue Line. In a press release, UNIFIL said Israeli forces instructed ...

Lebanon