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Lebanon

November 26, 2024

Beirut 3:28 am

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a memorial ceremony for Israelis killed on the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on Oct. 27, 2024.

Analysis

Will Netanyahu finally agree to Lebanon cease-fire after months of delays?

Barring any major surprises, Israel is expected to approve a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah Tuesday — something that will make delaying his graft trial even harder for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

The influential head of Lebanon's General Security apparatus, Abbas Ibrahim, is pictured during an interview at his office in the capital Beirut on July 22, 2020.

Exclusive

Lebanon’s ex-spymaster says Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire close

Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim told Al-Monitor that a deal to end the year of fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah could be imminent.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images

Four Italian UNIFIL peacekeepers injured in Lebanon as Argentina withdraws

UNIFIL announced this morning that four peacekeepers in its Italian contingent were injured by two rockets that hit their base in southern Lebanon. The rockets were likely fired by Hezbollah or affiliated groups, UNIFIL said.

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese border village of Khiam on Nov. 20, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Analysis

Israel seeking US security guarantees to clinch Lebanon deal: What we know

As cease-fire talks advance with Lebanon, Israel might agree to a letter from the US that would guarantee its ability to retaliate to violations by Hezbollah to 1701 framework.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Latest News

US envoy advances Israel-Lebanon cease-fire talks as Hezbollah says decision with Netanyahu

AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

As Netanyahu warms to Israel-Lebanon deal, US role comes into play

A photo taken from the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre shows smoke billowing following an Israeli airstrike which targeted the area of al-Hosh on the outskirts of Tyre, on November 19, 2024. (Photo by KAWNAT HAJU / AFP) (Photo by KAWNAT HAJU/AFP via Getty Images)

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

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Hochstein in Beirut, says 'significant progress' on Lebanon-Israel cease-fire as Hezbollah accepts proposal

Amos Hochstein

Analysis

With leverage in Syria, can Russia's Putin broker Israel-Lebanon deal?

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a flower-laying ceremony at the Monument to Minin and Pozharsky on Red Square on the National Unity Day in Moscow on November 4, 2024. (Photo by Mikhail TERESHCHENKO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MIKHAIL TERESHCHENKO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Joyce Karam

Senior News Editor

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional geopolitics, China in the Middle East

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Hanna Davis

In Beirut, reporting on politics, migration, human rights

Adnan Nasser

In Beirut, reporting on Lebanon

Rodayna Raydan

In Boqaata, reporting on culture

Aisha Mohammed Ali, 25, a mother of five who is a refugee from Aleppo, Syria, teaches the alphabet to one of her daughters, on January 5, 2022 in Tripoli, Lebanon. Tripoli is home to one of the country's largest population of Syrian refugees, 9 out of 10 of whom live in extreme poverty. (Photo by Andreea Campeanu/Getty Images)

Syrian refugees in Lebanon turn to TikTok 'begging' for money

TikTok has allowed thousands of refugees in Lebanon to beg for money from donors online by exposing their children and poor conditions to the outside world, a method that heightens the risk of exploitation and human-trafficking.

A Lebanese security official holds a handful of confiscated captagon pills in his palm at the judicial police headquarters in the city of Zahle in Lebanon's central Bekaa valley on July 21, 2022. (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)

Three Lebanese soldiers killed in Bekaa drug raid

Lebanon plays a big role in the Captagon trade, though authorities are trying to crack down on drugs.

A Lebanese protester flashes the V-sign for victory and shouts slogans as others vandalise banks in Beirut on February 16, 2023, one day after the Lebanese pound hit a record low against the dollar on the black market. - The country's grinding political and economic crises shows no signs of abating as the pound has lost more than 95 percent of its value against the greenback since the start of the economic collapse in 2019. (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)

Banks burn in Lebanon as exchange rate falls to historic low

Lebanese banks were already on strike and the government’s interventions have failed to alleviate the economic crisis.

Lisa Johnson, State Department

Meet Lisa Johnson, US nominee to be ambassador to Lebanon

Lisa Johnson has a background fighting the drug trade, which could relate to Lebanon’s role as a transit point for illegal Captagon.

A money changer counts notes at his shop in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Sept. 22, 2022.

Explainer: What is behind Lebanon's new exchange rate?

There are multiple exchange rates between the Lebanese pound and the US dollar, and the official rate being below the black market rate helps financial institutions pass on their losses to the public.

Middle East corruption rankings: Syria most corrupt, UAE least, Turkey slipped

Corruption remains rampant across the Middle East and North Africa, Transparency International reports, with the region’s average score in combating corruption hitting a new low of 38.

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Qatar's energy giant cements Lebanon deal, substituting Russia

The Qatari firm officially took over the stake previously held by a Russian company.

Tarek Bitar

Meet judge Tarek Bitar, rattling Lebanon's political class in Beirut blast probe

The leading investigative judge into the Aug. 4 Beirut port blast has come back after a 13-month stall, rattling the political and judicial establishment.

A Yemeni man looks up at pillars at the Awam, or Moon Temple, near the recently restored Arsh, or Throne of Balquis, the site of the legendary kingdom of Sheba, Marib province, Yemen, Dec. 21, 2000.

UNESCO lists two locations in Lebanon, Yemen as heritage sites in danger

In an urgent session on Wednesday, UNESCO named two sites from Lebanon and Yemen to its List of World Heritage in Danger, calling for their immediate preservation.

Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, Emir of Qatar, departs after meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Chancellery on May 20, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Qatar's energy giant joins Lebanon gas exploration group

France’s TotalEnergies, which is also part of the consortium, said they hope to start drilling in Lebanese waters for oil and gas in 2023.

A supporter of Hezbollah and the Amal movements carries a portrait of Judge Tarek Bitar.

Lebanon's prosecutor retaliates, charges judge investigating Beirut port blast

The latest charges made by Beirut port explosion Judge Tarek Bitar against Lebanon’s key political figures has angered many in the political elite who banned him from travel on Wednesday.

An exterior view of the building of US Department of the Treasury is seen on March 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Breaking | Last Updated: January 25, 2023, 4:50 pm

US sanctions Hezbollah financial adviser in Lebanon

The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on Lebanese economist Hassan Moukalled, his two sons and his money-exchange business.