lebanon

Could the IMF’s debt plan for Lebanon unintentionally bolster Hezbollah?

The International Monetary Fund risks unintentionally reviving a war-weakened Hezbollah by insisting Lebanon push heavier losses onto the banking sector than critics say is necessary — a move they argue would entrench the cash economy that Iran’s terror-designated proxy thrives on. At issue is how the IMF wants Lebanon’s government and ...

LAU Medical Center – Rizk Hospital: A Century of Medicine at the Heart of Beirut

A hundred years ago, a young surgeon just back from Paris put up a sign near the Nasra tram stop in Sodeco: “Dr. Toufic Rizk Clinic.” Twelve beds, three nurses, one passion: practicing modern surgery in a Lebanon still finding its way. At the time, no one could have imagined that this small beginning would grow into a full hospital in 1957 ...

Hezbollah Training Compound Hit in Overnight Israeli Airstrikes

Israel launched a wave of intensive airstrikes on southern Lebanon overnight, targeting several Hezbollah facilities, including what the Israeli military described as a training and qualification compound used by the group’s elite Radwan Force. Training Compound and Military Sites Targeted In a statement, the Israeli army said the air ...

Aoun Welcomes French Role in Mechanism Committee, Reaffirms Commitment to Diplomacy

President Joseph Aoun told French special envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian on Monday that Lebanon is open to an enhanced French role within the framework of the “Mechanism Committee,” stressing that any such involvement must support the committee’s core negotiation goals. During the meeting at Baabda Palace, Aoun outlined ...

EU Weighs Boosting Lebanon’s ISF to Free Army for Hezbollah Disarmament

The European Union is examining ways to reinforce Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF) so the Lebanese army can focus on disarming Hezbollah, according to an EU diplomatic document seen by Reuters. The confidential paper, circulated among the 27 EU member states, outlines consultations with Lebanese authorities and a scoping mission ...

Teetering on the Edge: Escalation Along the Lebanon–Israel Border

The Israeli-Lebanese border is now one of the Middle East’s most volatile fronts, where a “low-intensity” conflict feels less like crisis management and more like a dress rehearsal for an imminent war. U.S. and Israeli officials are no longer debating whether fighting will erupt again, but how quickly and extensively it could escalate, ...

Financial Restructuring: Fadi Khalaf Cautions Against a “Partial” Approach

The Secretary-General of the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL), Dr. Fadi Khalaf, has cautioned that any financial restructuring confined to the banking sector is likely to fail unless accompanied by comprehensive state reform. In his editorial for the ABL’s November report, published Monday, Khalaf emphasized that Lebanon’s ...

Washington Weighs New Visit by Lebanese Army Chief

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, announced that discussions are underway for a new visit by the Lebanese army chief, Rodolphe Haykal, to Washington. The announcement follows his Monday meeting with Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi. The army commander’s visit had previously been canceled on November 18 due to a statement issued by the ...

The Compelling Challenge of Israel’s Diplomatic Opening to Lebanon

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Leiter’s diplomatic opening to Lebanon is a major turning point amid the encumbered political horizons, uncertainties, and doomsaying enveloping the country. Coming at the heels of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s peace offer, the benevolence and the moral density of this statement cannot be overlooked ...

Lebanese MP Yacoubian Files Complaint Against Antoun Sehnaoui Over “Illicit Relations with Israel”

Lebanese parliamentarian Paula Yacoubian has filed a complaint with the Ministry of Economy and Trade, specifically with the Office for the Boycott of Israel, against Antoun Sehnaoui, chairman and general manager of Société Générale, accusing him of maintaining “illicit relations with the enemy Israeli ...

Israel Says It Destroyed a Hezbollah Tunnel and Weapons Depot in South Lebanon

The Israeli army announced Sunday that it destroyed “a tunnel opening” and “a weapons storage site” attributed to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, according to a statement posted on X by its Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee. According to Adraee, forces from the 601st Battalion, under the command of the 769th ...