Lebanon

When the State Decides but Cannot Enforce

After Hezbollah once again turned Lebanon into a battlefield at the behest of the Iranian regime, all eyes turned to see whether the Lebanese state could undertake tangible measures to counter this existential risk. Hours after Hezbollah lobbed rockets into Israel on March 2, the Lebanese government convened an emergency meeting at the ...

Israel Strikes Beirut's Southern Suburbs, Targeting Qard al-Hassan Branches

An additional Israeli raid pounded the southern suburbs of Beirut on Monday following several Israeli warnings followed by mock raids. In parallel, the Lebanese Army (LAF) blocked the roads leading to all Qard al-Hassan branches in the capital Beirut and Saida following latest warnings by the Israeli army’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee. ...

Heavy Clashes Erupt in Eastern Lebanon as Hezbollah Confronts Israeli Airborne Operation

Hezbollah said on Monday it fought Israeli forces who landed in eastern Lebanon by helicopter across the Syrian border, the second such operation since the outbreak of the latest conflict with Israel. Heavy fighting broke out overnight in eastern Lebanon after Israeli forces carried out what appeared to be an airborne insertion near the ...

Iranians Including Diplomats Evacuated from Beirut on Russian Plane: Lebanese Official

More than 100 Iranians, including some diplomats, were evacuated from Beirut overnight on a Russian plane, a Lebanese official told AFP on Sunday. The evacuation came after Lebanon on Thursday banned any activity by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps -- a main backer of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah -- and imposed a visa ...

Lebanon’s Government Moves to Rein in Hezbollah, But Is It Enough?

After Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the regional conflict with its March 2 attack on Israel, the Lebanese government signaled increased urgency to assert state authority and seize the militia’s arsenal. The cabinet’s headline-making decisions include banning Hezbollah’s military and security activities, directing the Lebanese Armed Forces ...

Inside Hezbollah’s Post-Nasrallah Power Struggle

Hezbollah’s renewed conflict with Israel has exposed internal tensions within the group that have been simmering since Tel Aviv’s assassination of its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and other senior figures. The loss of these leaders has left the group grappling with what analysts describe as a “decapitation” of its leadership ...

Israeli Army Strikes Central Beirut, Oil Depots in Tehran

The IDF targeted Iranian commanders in the Ramada hotel in Beirut’s central Rauoche neighborhood early on Sunday, killing four and injuring ten others.  The attack, described by the Israeli Army as a targeting “Quds Force's Lebanon Corps,” represents the first Israeli strike to hit the heart of Beirut since hostilities ...

Lebanese Should Not Despair

Once again, Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, have dragged Lebanon into a war. Once again, Hezbollah has shown that its loyalty is to its paymaster in Tehran, not to the Lebanese people or state, whose well-being and security are matters of indifference to them. Once again, Hezbollah's practice of using human shields to protect its facilities and ...

Israel-Hezbollah Escalation Intensifies as Warnings and Airstrikes Continue

The confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah intensified across Lebanon on Saturday, with Israeli airstrikes striking multiple locations in the south and the Bekaa Valley, new evacuation warnings issued to civilians, and Hezbollah launching retaliatory rocket and drone attacks toward northern Israel. The developments come as the conflict enters ...

Lebanese Army Says Soldier Wounded by Gunfire from Syria

Lebanon's military said on Saturday that a soldier was moderately wounded by gunfire coming from Syria a day prior in the country's northeast. "A Lebanese soldier sustained moderate injuries as a result of gunfire from the Syrian side targeting a Lebanese army post in the Qasr-Hermel area," the military said, adding that "soldiers at the post ...

Israel Defense Minister Warns Lebanon to Disarm Hezbollah or Pay 'Heavy Price'

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Saturday warned Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that his country would pay a "very heavy price" if it fails to disarm Hezbollah. Addressing the president, Katz said in a statement broadcast on Israeli television that if "the choice becomes protecting our civilians and the safety of our soldiers or Lebanon, ...