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Lebanon

July 28, 2024

Jdaidet el Matn 11:16 am

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ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Regional View

In Ashura speech, Hezbollah chief warns Israel against invading Lebanon

This year, the Shiite holiday comes as the region is boiling amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Jibbain, July 11, 2024.

Regional View

Israel fires at Lebanese army in south, strikes southern Syria

An escalation in northern Israel and southern Lebanon has raised fears of an all-out war amid warnings that such a conflict could expand to the rest of the region.

BERLIN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 15: Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib speaks to the media following talks with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on December 15, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. The two diplomats discussed mutual measures to prevent the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict from expanding to other regions, among other issues. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Interview

Lebanon FM warns of 'devastating’ regional war if Israel escalates campaign against Hezbollah

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Lebanon's top diplomat, Abdallah Bou Habib, adds that security in the south ultimately depends on a strong Lebanese army and an agreement on the border – not war.

Abdallah Bou Habib

With Abdallah Bou Habib

Lebanon Foreign Minister

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Hezbollah drones critically wound one in Israel

The risk of war is growing by the day as Israel and Hezbollah escalate their attacks.

Beatrice Farhat

By Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Latest News

Quick Take

Hezbollah airs drone footage of Israeli military sites in Golan Heights

A flag bearing portraits of (L-R) slain Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Hezbollah military leader Imad Moghniyeh, and Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, flutters after a raising ceremony by Lebanon's Hezbollah supporters and members on a hill facing the Israeli northern town of Metula by the border with Lebanon, on January 3, 2021, to mark the first anniversary of the killing of Soleimani and al-Muhandis in a US drone strike. (Photo by Ali DIA / AFP) (Photo by ALI DIA/AFP via Get

Hezbollah, Hamas delegations meet in Beirut as Gaza cease-fire talks resume

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah meets with Hamas deputy leader Khalil al-Hayya in Lebanon, July 5, 2024.

Beatrice Farhat

By Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

More than 200 rockets from Lebanon's Hezbollah rain down on Israel

Smoke rises after a strike near a military base in northern Israel by a rocket fired by Hezbollah, July 4, 2024.

Beatrice Farhat

By Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

US, Iran guarantors of shaky deterrence between Israel and Hezbollah

A portrait of Musa al-Sadr sits amid the rubble of a destroyed building in the heavily damaged, Hezbollah stronghold town of Aita al Chaab on June 29, 2024 in Aita al Chaab, Lebanon. Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been trading cross-border fire since the October 7 attacks, with the conflict escalating in May when the group launched a missile-carrying drone against Israel for the first time. The conflict intensified in June when Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israeli m

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review, Andrew Parasiliti

US scrambles to avert Israel-Hezbollah war, with or without Gaza cease-fire

US Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security Amos Hochstein (R) arrives at the government palace for his meeting with Lebanon's caretaker prime minister in Beirut on August 30 2023. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Hanna Davis

In Amman, reporting on refugees

Adnan Nasser

In Beirut, reporting on Lebanon

Rodayna Raydan

In Boqaata, reporting on culture

January 1946: The flags of the United Nations being put up over the main entrance hall in Central Hall. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

At 68, Has The UN Reached the Age of Wisdom?

On the 68th anniversary of its founding, the UN is still the only body that can tackle today's complex international problems.

Clovis Maksoud

By Clovis Maksoud

Lebanese Army soldiers patrol in front of a poster depicting Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in the Sunni Muslim Bab al-Tebbaneh neighbourhood, in Tripoli, northern Lebanon October 23, 2012. Four people were killed and 15 wounded in overnight gun battles in the Lebanese city of Tripoli in a second night of fighting between Sunni and Alawite gunmen loyal to different sides in the war in neighbouring Syria, a military source said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Omar Ibrahim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY)

Saudi Decision on Security Council Is About Syria

Saudi Arabia’s decision to decline a Security Council seat expresses anger in some Sunni Muslim quarters about the Syria war.

Sami Nader

By Sami Nader

Turkish Airlines pilot Murat Agca talks to media at Istanbul's Ataturk airport October 19, 2013. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan personally greeted two kidnapped Turkish pilots when they arrived back in Istanbul on Saturday after two months in captivity in Lebanon. The pair were released earlier under a deal whereby nine Lebanese hostages were freed in Syria and allowed to return home via Turkey. The Turkish pilots had been abducted in retaliation for the snatching of the Lebanese. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY

Turkey Rescues Its Pilots in Swap Deal

Turkey’s silent diplomacy yielded results on Oct.19, when it rescued the two Turkish Airlines pilots kidnapped in Beirut on Aug. 9.

Tulin Daloglu

By Tulin Daloglu

Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird (L) shakes hands with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud before a meeting of the Group of Friends of the Syrian People during 68th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York, September 26, 2013. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX1418C

Can Saudi Withdrawal From Security Council Spark Dialogue?

While unfortunate, the withdrawal of Saudi Arabia from the UN Security Council may focus attention on the lack of an Arab voice at the UN.

Clovis Maksoud

By Clovis Maksoud

Protesters shout slogans as they hold an image of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during a demonstration against the possibility of a U.S. military strike against the Syrian government, in Tunis September 10, 2013. REUTERS/Anis Mili (TUNISIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX13G1N

Hezbollah Deputy Received in Paris

France hosts a Hezbollah deputy just three months after the party was added to the EU terrorist list.

Jean Aziz (Lebanon Pulse)

By Jean Aziz (Lebanon Pulse)

A U.N. vehicle returns to a hotel where experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are staying, in Damascus October 11, 2013. The global chemical weapons watchdog charged with overseeing destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile during a civil war won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a relatively small organisation with a modest budget, dispatched its experts after a sarin gas attack killed more t

Is Saudi Arabia Holding Up The Geneva II Conference on Syria?

While Turkey may be shifting its Syria policy in response to domestic and international pressure, Saudi Arabia appears to be digging in to oppose the trend toward a diplomatic solution.

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Civilians look at the bodies of victims of an attack in the village of Mwafaqiya, in Nineveh province, October 17, 2013. A suicide bomber driving a truck packed with explosives blew himself up in a village in northern Iraq, killing at least 11 people early on Thursday, police said. The attack targeted members of Iraq's predominantly Shi'ite Shabak minority in the village of Mwafaqiya in Nineveh province. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX14F5M

Syria Crisis Sidelines Iraq

While the world focuses on Syria, Iraq endures daily carnage and a security situation that is spiraling out of control.

Clovis Maksoud

By Clovis Maksoud

Israel's President Shimon Peres (R) listens as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening of the winter session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem October 14, 2013. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14AZQ

Netanyahu Stuck On Repeat on Palestine

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu undercut Israeli-Palestinian negotiations with his recent address to the Knesset.

Clovis Maksoud

By Clovis Maksoud

arab christians.jpg

Islamist, Christian Differences On Display at Conference

A conference held in Amman, Jordan, about Christians and the Arab Spring revealed the many differences between Islamists and Christians over minority rights.

Jean Aziz (Lebanon Pulse)

By Jean Aziz (Lebanon Pulse)

Newly released Abdulbasit Aslan (R), a Turkish national abducted by a Lebanese Shi'ite in Beirut, shakes hands with Abbas Ibrahim, head of the Lebanese General Security, as Turkish ambassador to Lebanon Inan Ozyildiz (C) looks on, at the Lebanese General Security headquarters in Beirut September 13, 2012. REUTERS/ Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR37XTM

Will Bishops Be Included in Deal To Release Lebanese Detainees?

New information suggests that a deal is near to secure the release of nine Lebanese citizens detained in Syria in March, but questions remain about two kidnapped bishops' fate.

Jean Aziz (Lebanon Pulse)

By Jean Aziz (Lebanon Pulse)

Palestinian protesters hurl rocks at Israeli soldiers during clashes in Betunia, near the West Bank city of Ramallah October 11, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX147KO

Egyptian-Israeli Peace Dilemma For United States

Egypt's peace agreement with Israel has stood in the way of a lasting solution for Palestinians.

Clovis Maksoud

By Clovis Maksoud

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi (L) looks past his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu (2nd R) during the opening of a ministerial meeting in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on May 13, 2013. The OIC urged its member states to make generous contributions at this week's main donors conference on Mali to be held in Brussels, which aims to raise funds to repair the damage caused by the war against Islamists in the African country. AFP PHOTO/STR

Lebanon Stability Depends On Iran-Saudi Entente

The warming trends in US-Russia and US-Iran ties may or may not benefit Lebanon, unless Iran and Saudi Arabia end their sectarian regional policies.

Sami Nader

By Sami Nader