Lebanon

Kanaan Rejects New Taxes and Calls for Fair Public Sector Reform
Kanaan Rejects New Taxes and Calls for Fair Public Sector Reform

Head of Parliament’s Finance and Budget Committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, reiterated on Thursday that the committee “rejects any increase or creation of new taxes and fees” aimed solely at closing the state’s budget deficit. “Every time the state needs funding, it imposes new burdens on citizens. This approach must stop,” Kanaan declared ...

No-State Zones in Lebanon: Palestinian Camps and Unresolved Sovereignty (1/3)
FocusNo-State Zones in Lebanon: Palestinian Camps and Unresolved Sovereignty (1/3)

The killing of Elio Abou Hanna, a 24-year-old Lebanese man shot overnight Saturday to Sunday in Shatila by members of a Palestinian faction, has reignited a debate Lebanon has never truly resolved: a chronic issue of areas where the state no longer holds authority. Elio was shot while sitting behind the wheel of his car. A camp official described ...

Ortagus in Lebanon: A Low-Profile Visit with a Clear Message
SpotlightOrtagus in Lebanon: A Low-Profile Visit with a Clear Message

In a region increasingly fraught with tension, U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus’s visit to Beirut unfolded as part of a diplomatic sequence in which Lebanon once again finds itself on the fault line between war and negotiation. High-Level Meetings Morgan Ortagus began her Lebanese tour on Wednesday with a meeting in Ain al-Tineh with Parliament ...

Voluntary Return of Displaced Syrians from Lebanon Enters Seventh Phase
Voluntary Return of Displaced Syrians from Lebanon Enters Seventh Phase

The seventh wave of voluntary returns of displaced Syrians was launched Thursday from the former offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Zahlé, in Lebanon’s Bekaa region. Convoys departed for several areas in Syria, including Homs, Aleppo, Damascus, and surrounding regions. The operation is part of a voluntary ...

Lebanese Officials Condemn Deadly Israeli Attack on Blida
Lebanese Officials Condemn Deadly Israeli Attack on Blida

Top Lebanese officials on Thursday denounced Israel’s latest attacks on southern Lebanon, including a deadly overnight strike on the Blida municipal building that killed municipal employee Ibrahim Salameh, describing it as a “flagrant assault on Lebanese sovereignty and state institutions.” Following the incident, President ...

The ‘Mechanism’: Open Sesame
EditorialThe ‘Mechanism’: Open Sesame

Five photos. One very short statement in Naqoura. That’s all it took for U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus’s visit to Lebanon to make its point. The symbolism was clear: the era of endless chatter is over. Time to actually get things done. In a country where talking for the sake of talking is practically a national sport, that’s… a plot ...

European Intelligence: Iran Rebuilding Missile Program
European Intelligence: Iran Rebuilding Missile Program

Western intelligence agencies have revealed that Iran is actively rebuilding its ballistic missile program in defiance of renewed UN sanctions, with significant assistance from China, according to a CNN report. European intelligence sources said that several shipments of sodium perchlorate, a key ingredient in the solid fuel used to power ...

Cabinet Forms Committee to Review Proposed Amendments to Election Law
Cabinet Forms Committee to Review Proposed Amendments to Election Law

The Council of Ministers formed a ministerial committee Wednesday to examine proposed amendments to the election law and submit a comprehensive report within a week. A total of fourteen items were on the agenda of the meeting held in the presidential palace under the chairmanship of President Joseph Aoun. The agenda included two draft laws ...

Ortagus Reaffirms U.S. Support for Lebanon’s Disarmament Plan
Ortagus Reaffirms U.S. Support for Lebanon’s Disarmament Plan

  U.S. Special Envoy to Lebanon Morgan Ortagus on Wednesday reaffirmed Washington’s support for the Lebanese government’s decision to place all weapons under state control by the end of the year. Speaking during the 12th meeting of the Committee for the Supervision of the Ceasefire (the Mechanism) in Naqoura, Ortagus emphasized that the ...

Aoun Calls on Media to Defend Truth Amid Global Misinformation
Aoun Calls on Media to Defend Truth Amid Global Misinformation

President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday warned that truth is losing its place as a universal value in an age dominated by misinformation and digital noise, urging media professionals to reclaim their role as guardians of honesty and accountability. “The truth is dull, the rumor is seductive,” Aoun said, quoting a communications expert as he ...

UNIFIL Restores Blue Line Markers Damaged by Last Year’s War
UNIFIL Restores Blue Line Markers Damaged by Last Year’s War

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) announced that it has begun repairing the Blue Line markers damaged during last year’s conflict between Hezbollah and Israel – “an important step toward restoring stability in southern Lebanon,” the mission said in a statement on X Tuesday evening. Since the start of the operation on ...