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Lebanon

July 28, 2024

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Israeli security forces leave in a helicopter near a site where a reported strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams village in the Israeli-annexed Golan area on July 27, 2024. Israel's emergency medical service Magen David Adom said at least nine people were killed and 34 wounded including 17 in critical condition, after a rocket fired from Lebanon had hit the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon braces for Israeli response to Hezbollah as US urges restraint

A state of panic has spread across Lebanon, fearing a harsh blow from Israel after the Majdal Shams attack. Saudi Arabia, France, Norway and Sweden have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible and Hezbollah, bracing for an imminent attack by Israel, has already evacuated some key sites.

Beatrice Farhat

Adam Lucente

Rina Bassist

By Beatrice Farhat, Adam Lucente, Rina Bassist

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

Latest News

Hezbollah drones critically wound one in Israel

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Beatrice Farhat

By Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

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

Hanna Davis

In Amman, reporting on refugees

Adnan Nasser

In Beirut, reporting on Lebanon

Rodayna Raydan

In Boqaata, reporting on culture

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man walks out with his children after collecting gas mask kits at a distribution point in Jerusalem August 28, 2013. Thousands of Israelis on Wednesday continued to queue up for gas masks or ordered them by phone, spurred on by fears that any Western military response to last week's alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria could ensnare their own country in war. Israel also deploying all of its missile defences as a precaution against possible Syrian retaliatory attacks should Weste

Israel Prepares for Syria Strike

As Israel stations an Iron Dome anti-missile battery in Tel Aviv, Israelis fear missile attacks on their major cities and wonder: Will Israel be prepared?

Inna Lazareva

By Inna Lazareva

A Syrian refugee boy shields himself from the rain with his jacket at a refugee camp in the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon January 31, 2013. Donor countries have pledged more than $1.5 billion to aid Syrians stricken by civil war, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday after warning that the conflict had wrought a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3D6R0

Syria Strike Would Be Disaster for Lebanon

Any foreign military intervention in Syria, particularly a direct strike by NATO forces, will have dire consequences for the already fragile environment in Lebanon.

Jean Aziz (Lebanon Pulse)

By Jean Aziz (Lebanon Pulse)

The guided-missile destroyer USS Barry launches a Tomahawk cruise missile from the ship's bow in the Mediterranean Sea in this U.S. Navy handout photo dated March 29, 2011. Barry is currently supporting Joint Task Force (JTF) Odyssey Dawn. JTF Odyssey Dawn is the U.S. Africa Command task force established to provide operational and tactical command and control of U.S. military forces supporting the international response to the unrest in Libya and enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution

How Would US Strike Against Syria Affect Lebanon?

As the world awaits a likely US-led military strike on Syria, many in Lebanon are concerned about the potential repercussions such an action could have on them.

Sami Nader

By Sami Nader

A Patriot anti-missile battery is deployed in the northern city of Haifa August 29, 2013. Israel ordered a small-scale mobilisation of reservists on Wednesday, and strengthened its missile defences as precautions against possible Syrian attack should Western powers carry out threatened strikes on Syria. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS) - RTX12ZZO

Three Scenarios for Day After Attack on Syria

The possible outcomes of a US-launched war on Syria.

Nassif Hitti

By Nassif Hitti

Relatives carry the coffin of a female victim who died yesterday from the bombs blasts that hit two mosques in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli August 24, 2013. Bombs hit two mosques in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday, killing at least 42 people and wounding hundreds, intensifying sectarian strife that has spilled over from the civil war in neighbouring Syria. REUTERS/Rayan al-Turk (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12V6Z

Looming Attacks Grip Lebanon

Following three major bombings since July 9, various Lebanese parties have traded accusations, while the Lebanese speculate regarding a potential future attack.

Jean Aziz (Lebanon Pulse)

By Jean Aziz (Lebanon Pulse)

A woman reacts as she looks at the site of a car bomb that occurred on Thursday in Beirut's southern suburbs, August 16, 2013. The death toll from a car bomb which ripped through the southern Beirut stronghold of Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah rose on Friday to 24, and the government said it was investigating whether the blast was a suicide attack. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12NFG

Hezbollah Locks Down Beirut Stronghold After Bombings

The security lockdown is a reaction to rising sectarian tensions and two bombs hitting Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut in two months.

A correspondent in Beirut

By A correspondent in Beirut

United Nations (U.N.) vehicles transport a team of U.N. chemical weapons experts to the scene of a poison gas attack outside the Syrian capital last week, in Damascus August 26, 2013. The experts dressed in blue U.N. body armour, left in a six-car convoy, according to a Reuters witness, and were accompanied by security forces and an ambulance. They said they were headed to the rebel-held outskirts of Damascus, known as Eastern Ghouta, where activists say rockets loaded with poison gas killed hundreds of peo

Five Game Changers in Syria

What can prolong or shorten the Syria conflict?

Nassif Hitti

By Nassif Hitti

Lebanon's Hezbollah supporters wave Palestinian and Hezbollah flags during a demonstration, organised by Lebanese and Palestinian factions, against Israel's military operation in Gaza, in front of the U.N. headquarters in Beirut November 17, 2012. Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza on Saturday, including the prime minister's office, after Israel's cabinet authorised the mobilisation of up to 75,000 reservists, preparing for a possible ground invasion. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON - T

Hezbollah-Hamas Relations 'Good' Despite Beirut Bombing Accusations

Sources close to Hezbollah claim ties with Hamas remain on relatively good terms despite disagreements and accusations that Hamas was involved in bombing a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut.

Haytham Mouzahem (Syria Pulse)

By Haytham Mouzahem (Syria Pulse)

People inspect the damage inside one of two mosques hit by explosions in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, August 23, 2013. Twin explosions outside two mosques killed at least 27 people and wounded hundreds in apparently coordinated attacks in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday, a senior health official and witnesses said. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12U8I

Who's Behind Attempts to Spread Chaos in Lebanon?

According to a senior former Lebanese security official, jihadists are carrying out a series of attacks in Lebanon to draw the country into a civil war.

Jean Aziz (Lebanon Pulse)

By Jean Aziz (Lebanon Pulse)

Shoes and slippers left by Muslims who were attending Friday prayers are seen at one of two mosques hit by explosions in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, August 23, 2013. Twin explosions outside the two mosques killed at least 27 people and wounded hundreds in apparently coordinated attacks in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday, a senior health official and witnesses said. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12UE3

Is Iran Genuinely Troubled By Sunni-Shiite Conflict?

With the latest bombing in Lebanon, the sectarian overtones of the region's conflicts have crystallized.

Sami Nader

By Sami Nader

A crane removes burnt cars from outside one of two mosques hit by explosions in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, August 23, 2013. Twin explosions outside two mosques killed at least 27 people and wounded hundreds in apparently coordinated attacks in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday, a senior health official and witnesses said. REUTERS/Sobhi Al-Sharif (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12U8F

Are Tripoli Bombings Aimed At Sparking Sectarian War in Lebanon?

Leading Lebanese figures claim that Friday's bombings, which targeted Sunni mosques in the northern city of Tripoli and resulted in more than 40 deaths, were aimed at polarizing the country and sparking a sectarian war.

Haytham Mouzahem (Syria Pulse)

By Haytham Mouzahem (Syria Pulse)

Israeli army vehicles patrol along Israel's border with Lebanon near the northern village of Avivim July 3, 2013. Israel is bolstering its forces on the once-quiet frontier with Syria where it believes Lebanese Hezbollah militants are preparing for the day when they could fight Israel. Picture taken July 3, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTX11IMG

Israel's New Adversary: Global Jihad

Rockets fired by global jihad cells from the Lebanese border will force Israel to adjust its military strategy.

Shlomi Eldar

By Shlomi Eldar