This is Beirut - Lebanon

Politicians Oppose Plan to Project Images of Hezbollah Leaders on Raouche Rock

This is Beirut, 17/09 19:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Raouche Lebanon Hassan Nasrallah Hashem Safieddine Hezbollah Nadim Gemayel

Hezbollah has stirred controversy among Lebanese politicians after announcing on Tuesday that the images of former Secretary Generals Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine would be projected on the Rock of Raouche on the anniversary of their deaths. During a press conference, Hezbollah’s head of activities, Ali Daher, said that the Raouche ...

Syrians Leaving Lebanon: How Many Still Remain?

Natasha Metni Torbey, 17/09 18:30 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Baalbeck United Nations Syrians UNHCR Lebanon

Since January 2025, more than 238,000 Syrians have left Lebanon for their home country, according to updated figures from the General Security Directorate as of September 11. On that day alone, an estimated 280 to 300 refugees crossed into Syria through the Masnaa border crossing, traveling in a convoy of ten buses and ten trucks loaded with their ...

Lebanese Army Seizes Largest Drug Haul to Date in Baalbeck District

This is Beirut, 17/09 17:40 - Reading : less than a minute

Captagon Baalbeck Captagon pills Lebanese Army Lebanon

In its largest drug haul on Lebanese territory, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) said in a statement on Wednesday that it had seized 64 million Captagon pills from the town of Bouday, Baalbeck. In addition to the pills, the LAF confiscated 79 barrels of chemicals to manufacture the drug, as well as a few manufacturing machines. This operation ...

Rigged Pagers: Hezbollah’s Fatal Blow

Rayan Chami, 17/09 17:40 - Reading : less than a minute

Hezbollah Pagers Israel Lebanon

September 17, 2024, will be remembered as a dark day in Hezbollah’s history. Thirty-nine people were killed and around 3, 500 thousand of its officials and fighters were injured in brutal and unusual circumstances: the simultaneous explosion of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies. Let’s break it down.

The Incredible Pagers Affair: The Shadow Behind the Explosion

Natasha Metni Torbey, 17/09 15:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Hezbollah Israel Lebanon Hassan Nasrallah Beirut

September 17, 2024, 3:30 p.m. Like so many other dates, this one once again thrust Lebanon into the unexpected. In an almost everyday silence, thousands of small devices, pagers, and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah forces exploded almost simultaneously. A deafening roar, flames erupting from offices, vehicles, and command centers. Dozens killed, ...

Rifi: Complaint Against Hezbollah’s Qassem Still Pending

This is Beirut, 17/09 13:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Hezbollah lebanon ISF

MP Ashraf Rifi announced on Wednesday that the complaint filed against Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on August 27 remains with Judge Jamal Hajjar’s office and has not yet been referred to the judicial police. Speaking at a press conference for the Sovereign Front, Rifi said, “although more than 24 days have passed since the ...

Same Script, Same Backdrop, Same Secretary-General

Marc Saikali, 17/09 11:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah Israel Politics Naim Kassem

Every single week, like clockwork, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General graces us with yet another appearance. And somehow, even those Turkish soap operas dubbed in the Syrian dialect manage to look like Hollywood blockbusters by comparison. Naturally, the speeches are always prerecorded. Spontaneity is risky business when you’d rather not let the ...

New Banknotes to Boost the Lebanese Pound

Liliane Mokbel, 17/09 10:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon Economy Banknotes BDL

Issuing higher-denomination banknotes for the Lebanese pound is simply common sense, given that the largest note currently in circulation is LBP 100,000—worth about USD 1. The others are worth even less: LBP 50,000 (roughly USD 0.50), LBP 20,000, LBP 10,000, and LBP 5,000. Lebanon has been in the grip of a currency collapse for six years, with ...

Cabinet Tasks Interior Minister to Relay Electoral Law Flaws

This is Beirut, 16/09 21:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon Cabinet Elections Parliament expatriates budget

The Cabinet agreed to task Minister of Interior Ahmad al-Hajjar with relaying to Parliament the government’s concerns over ambiguities in the electoral law to allow next year’s parliamentary elections to proceed without legal challenges. The decision was taken during a Cabinet session convened on Tuesday at the Grand Serail under the ...

Ministry of Finance Announces Fiscal Stamps Available at Accredited Centers

This is Beirut, 16/09 19:40 - Reading : less than a minute

Lebanon economy finance stamps

After months of chronic shortage that fueled frustration and a black market, the Ministry of Finance announced on Tuesday that fiscal stamps of all categories are now available, but only at accredited centers. In a statement, the Ministry of Finance specified that their distribution will be expanded to a larger number of accredited centers as ...

Netanyahu Says Nasrallah’s Death Brought Down the Pro-Iranian Axis

This is Beirut, 16/09 19:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Hassan Nasrallah Hezbollah Lebanon Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the death of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on September 27, 2024, in a violent Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, triggered the collapse of the pro-Iranian axis. “On October 7, we were attacked by the monsters of Hamas. The next day, Hezbollah joined the fight ...

ISF Dismantles Syrian Counterfeiting Network in Beirut Suburbs

This is Beirut, 16/09 18:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon ISF forgery Syria network

The General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced on Tuesday that it had dismantled, last August, a network of Syrian counterfeiters specializing in forging official Lebanese and Syrian stamps. According to the statement, the ISF’s intelligence bureau had received information that members of the network were obtaining ...

Lebanon