Nawaf Salam

Centcom Chief Visits Israel After Beirut

The new head of the US military's Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, concluded his first visit to Israel in the role on Saturday, the Israeli military said. "The visit focused on the operational cooperation between the IDF (Israeli military) and the US military, maintaining regional stability in both nearby and distant arenas, and ...

Lebanon Advances Cooperation with US

Lebanon is advancing its cooperation with the United States, with President of the Republic General Joseph Aoun urging Washington on Saturday to press Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanese territories. Aoun also reaffirmed the importance of US backing for the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). Aoun stressed the need to fully implement last ...

France Welcomes Lebanon’s Endorsement of Army Plan on Weapons

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed on Saturday the Lebanese government’s plan proposed by the army to restore the state’s monopoly on arms across all of its territory. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot held talks a day earlier with his Lebanese counterpart, Youssef Raggi, to reaffirm France’s support for the disarmament ...

Israel Flattens Gaza City High-Rise as It Tells Residents to Flee

An Israeli strike flattened a high-rise in Gaza City on Saturday, the second in as many days, after the military warned people to flee south to a "humanitarian zone" ahead of a planned offensive to capture the area. Israel has been warning for weeks of a new assault on the territory's largest urban center, without issuing a ...

Rasamny Says Kleiate Airport Works to Begin in Early 2026

Minister of Public Works and Transport Fayez Rassamny announced on Saturday that works at Kleiate Airport will begin at the start of 2026. Speaking from the airport’s runway, the minister noted that “both the president of the Republic and the Prime Minister have been determined since the beginning of the current term to operate and activate ...

Lebanon Must Dare to Choose Peace

In Lebanon, the word “peace” has for too long been confiscated, reduced to an empty slogan or an untouchable taboo, synonymous with “treason.” Yet if our country is to survive, rebuild its economy, and restore hope to its citizens, it can no longer afford to remain trapped in a logic of perpetual war. Peace, including with Israel, must ...

⁠Lebanon Blinks First: Berri Smiles, Hezbollah Wins

Today’s much-anticipated Lebanese cabinet session made headlines—but not for decisive action. While the army unveiled its plan to disarm Hezbollah and restore a state monopoly on arms, the meeting concluded without any clear implementation timeline, sparking frustrations across the political spectrum. Strikingly, Speaker Nabih Berri ...

Cabinet Backs Army’s Disarmament Plan Despite Shia Ministers’ Walkout

The Cabinet met on Friday at the presidential palace in Baabda and approved the Lebanese Army’s plan to restore the state’s monopoly on weapons after reviewing its various phases, presented by Army Commander Gen. Rodolphe Haykal. The session, chaired by President Joseph Aoun, gave the green light to the military’s action plan in the absence ...

The Guardianship Syndrome

Lebanon’s modern history has been shaped by successive forms of foreign tutelage, beginning with the proclamation of Greater Lebanon 105 years ago. Over the course of half a century, the country experienced various mandates and occupations: 23 years under the French Mandate, 30 years under Syrian domination, alongside repeated Israeli invasions ...

Council of Ministers: A Moment of Truth on Disarmament

The Council of Ministers will meet today to examine the Lebanese Army’s plan for militia disarmament. Despite the uncertainty, three points are clear before the session: the meeting will take place, ministers from the Shia duo will attend, and the army’s plan will be formally submitted to the government. However, serious doubts remain that ...