This is Beirut - Nawaf Salam

Israel Renews Beirut Strikes as Netanyahu Vows Hard Line on Hezbollah

This is Beirut, 13/03 09:05 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Hezbollah Israel Nawaf Salam Lebanon

Israel renewed its strikes on Beirut on Thursday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning that if the Lebanese government did not disarm Hezbollah, Israel would do the job "on the ground". "You are playing with fire," Benjamin Netanyahu said to Lebanese authorities during a press conference, as Israeli jets carried out three strikes on ...

Lebanon to Summon Iranian Diplomats After IRGC Claim of Joint Attack with Hezbollah

This is Beirut, 12/03 14:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah Nawaf Salam Israel Paul Morcos IRGC Iran Revolutionary Guard Beirut

Information Minister Paul Morcos announced on Thursday that Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has instructed Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji to summon the necessary diplomats from the Iranian Embassy following a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claiming a joint military operation with Hezbollah against Israel. Earlier Thursday, ...

Parliament Delays Elections by Two Years

This is Beirut, 09/03 14:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Lebanon Free Patriotic Movement Hezbollah International Monetary Fund

Lebanon’s parliament voted to postpone the May 2026 parliamentary elections by two years, with 76 lawmakers in the 128-seat chamber voting in favor of the extension. Lebanon last held parliamentary elections in 2022 and had already been considering an extension of the current parliament’s mandate before the latest round of ...

When the State Decides but Cannot Enforce

Marwan El Amin, 09/03 12:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Lebanese Army Lebanon Hezbollah Israel

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 ...

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

Claudia Groeling, 08/03 12:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah Nawaf Salam Lebanese Army Benjamin Netanyahu

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 ...

Salam: Lebanon Did Not Choose the Current War

This is Beirut, 06/03 12:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon Nawaf Salam Hamas Hassan Nasrallah Hezbollah

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, speaking to a meeting of foreign ambassdors Friday, emphasized that Lebanon did not choose to enter this current war but has been pulled into the sharp escalation of violence which began with Hezbollah rocket launches Sunday, following U.S.-Israeli attacks in Iran. Echoing previous comments on the urgency of Hezbollah ...

The Day Loyalty Met Reality

Salam El Zaatari, 06/03 11:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Lebanon Dahyeh Hezbollah Israel

Hezbollah consolidated its power on the simple promise that confronting Israel would protect its people. Yet once again, its military actions have forced a mass exodus of its support base from South Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Cars are fleeing war zones in slow convoys, carrying the few essentials panicked people can pack in ...

Lebanese Cabinet to Index IRGC Members Ahead of Deportation

This is Beirut, 05/03 14:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon Nawaf Salam Paul Morcos Council of Ministers Iran IRGC

Following a session held Thursday, the Council of Ministers committed to verifying the presence of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members in Lebanon, with a view to their ultimate expulsion, according to the Information Minister Dr. Paul Morcos. The step, the Cabinet said, aims to safeguard national security, assert state ...

Lebanon Bans Hezbollah’s Military Activities, But Stops Short of Terrorism Label

Amal Chmouny, 04/03 22:10 - Reading : 7 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah Nawaf Salam Lebanese Army Israel

In an unprecedented move, Lebanon’s government on March 2 banned all Hezbollah’s military and security activities and instructed the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to immediately move forward with its plan to disarm the militia. The decision came hours after a Hezbollah rocket barrage into Israel, which triggered a widescale military ...

The Moment of Decision: Will Lebanon Choose Peace?

Marwan El Amine, 04/03 09:50 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Nawaf Salam Hezbollah Israel Joseph Aoun

The return of war to Lebanon was neither sudden nor unexpected. On the contrary, it appeared almost inevitable, a consequence of Hezbollah’s rigidity and denial on one hand, and the Lebanese state’s hesitation and accommodation on the other. It followed the trajectory of the political and security developments since the ceasefire that ended ...

Aoun: State Monopoly on Arms “Irreversible”

This is Beirut, 03/03 11:45 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Nawaf Salam Lebanese Army Lebanon Hezbollah Israel Joseph Aoun

President Joseph Aoun asserted on Tuesday that the Cabinet’s decision to prohibit illegal military and security activities is a sovereign and final measure that “cannot be reversed,” in reference to Hezbollah’s rocket fire toward Israel. Speaking during a meeting with the Quintet Committee, Aoun reiterated that the government’s ...

Time for Lebanon’s De-Hezbollahfication

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, 03/03 10:25 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Lebanese Army UN Security Council Nawaf Salam Hamas

Lebanon has tasted the nightmare Israel faced on October 7, 2023. Iran’s Islamist regime and its proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas, are irrational actors who cannot be trusted with a single bullet, let alone entire arsenals, regardless of the paper promises they sign. Israel recognized this existential threat and has since been taking preemptive ...

Nawaf Salam