lebanon

Israeli Drone Kills Hezbollah Member in Khiam

A Hezbollah member was reportedly killed and four injured, on Monday, in an Israeli drone strike that targeted the Old Slaughterhouse neighborhood on the eastern outskirts of Khiam, according to Al-Arabiya television. Hezbollah officially mourned Ali Suleiman Abu Abbas, who was killed in the town of Khiam. The strike came after a relatively ...

August 4: Four Witnesses at the Epicenter

That day began like any other. Sam, a young bartender then working in Hamra, was already on shift, and the restaurant was packed. “I was preparing orders when I felt the ground shaking. A massive jolt. They say there were two explosions, but I only heard one. A sound unlike anything I’d ever heard.” Jacques, architect, was sitting down to ...

Five Years On: Lebanon Marks Beirut Port Blast Anniversary with Calls for Justice and Remembrance

On the fifth anniversary of the devastating Beirut Port explosion, which killed over 200 people and injured thousands, officials and institutions have renewed their calls for justice and remembrance, while tributes were held across the country. Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar visited the Beirut Fire Brigade headquarters, where he laid a wreath at ...

The Holy Father Remembers Lebanon in Prayers on August 4

“Beloved and suffering Lebanon” was the heartfelt theme of a prayer vigil held Sunday evening in the outdoor courtyard of Our Lady of Deliverance Church, in Beirut’s Karantina district near the port. The ceremony, attended by Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Paolo Borgia, featured a candlelit procession and the blessing of the 75 olive trees - ...

Lebanon, the Unraveling Republic

American political scientists in the sixties were quite pessimistic when analyzing the cascading political crises befalling Lebanon since the late fifties. Leila Meo used the label of “improbable nation” (1963), and Michael Hudson characterized it as a “precarious republic" (1965). This sense of instability prompted numerous scholars to ...

Beirut Port, Five Years On: Has the Investigation Stalled or Is Justice Moving Forward?

Five long years. Five years since the explosion on August 4, 2020, that mushroom-shaped cloud that swallowed the capital, crushed hundreds of lives, and left a nation in shock. Yet in Beirut, life has gone on as if nothing happened. As if more than 240 people had not died, as if over 7,000 had not been wounded, and as if the country were not ...

Eclipse of the Century: Encounter with Darkness on August 2, 2027

On August 2, 2027, a narrow band of totality will stretch from southern Spain to the southern Arabian Peninsula, offering a dramatic celestial display already dubbed “the eclipse of the century.” It is set to be one of the most spectacular astronomical events of the 21st century. The eclipse will begin over the Atlantic Ocean shortly after ...

Lebanon Launches First National Campaign to Prevent Drowning

Lebanon launched its first National Drowning Prevention Awareness Campaign on Friday, aiming to address a leading yet preventable public health issue. The campaign was motivated by the statistics related to drownings in Lebanon. A recent study by Dr. Samar El Hajj from the American University of Beirut, using data from the Internal Security ...

Minister of Justice: Beirut Port Blast Probe Nearing Final Stage

Minister of Justice Adel Nassar announced on Friday that the investigation into the devastating Beirut Port explosion of August 4, 2020, is approaching its final phase. Nassar emphasized the importance of reaching the truth and ensuring accountability, declaring that no state can be complete without justice for such a catastrophic ...

August 4: Families Revive Memory With Olive Trees

When justice falters, memory remains. A memory planted with bare hands into a soil still shaken by anger and silence. For five years, families of August 4, 2020 explosion victims have waited in vain, expecting answers, accountability, and convictions. But waiting led nowhere. So, some have stopped waiting. Not out of vengeance, but to stand their ...