Lebanon

New US General Leading Ceasefire Committee Tours Lebanese Officials

This is Beirut 30/04 11:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Outgoing head of the Ceasefire Monitoring Committee, US General Jasper Jeffers, on Wednesday toured Lebanese officials, including President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Lebanese Army Commander in chief, Gen. Rodolphe Haikal, to introduce his successor, General Michael Leeney. The meetings were in the presence ...

Lebanon's Official Exams to Begin on July 9, School Year Extended to June 13

This Is Beirut 30/04 11:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

education minister baccaleaureate schools

Minister of Education Rima Karami announced on Wednesday that Lebanon’s official baccalaureate exams will begin on July 9 and span five days. The academic year will be extended until June 13, with school principals granted the flexibility to organize schedules as they see fit. Speaking at a press conference dedicated to the official ...

Numbers & FiguresOngoing Crisis in Lebanon: Economic Downturn Continues in 2024

This is Beirut 30/04 08:20 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

International Monetary Fund Lebanon Growth GDP-Lebanon

Sharp GDP Contraction Lebanon is now in its sixth consecutive year of economic crisis, with key indicators remaining at their lowest levels, according to the World Economic Outlook (WEO) report published in April 2025 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). GDP contraction continues, and despite a slight easing of inflation and the current ...

Aoun to Meet Jeffers Before UAE Trip for Talks

This is Beirut 29/04 17:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

United Arab Emirates Hezbollah Israel Joseph Aoun

The Lebanese Presidency announced on its X account that President Joseph Aoun will travel on Wednesday to the United Arab Emirates for a two-day official visit at the request of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Emir of Abu Dhabi. According to the statement, Aoun will hold talks with Sheikh Al Nahyan and other senior ...

Op-edCarnegie Endowment: “Trusting the Americans Is a Bad Idea”

Hussain Abdul-Hussain 29/04 15:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

USA America United States Donald Trump

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an American think tank, believes that “trusting the Americans is a bad idea.” Carnegie’s Michael Young did not qualify what he meant by “the Americans.” Did he mean the US government? Its policies? Or just all of the Americans, wholesale? Young even took a swipe at the May 17, 1983 ...

Regional Messaging Between Israel and Iran

Johnny Kortbawi 29/04 13:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Israel Donald Trump Hezbollah Middle East Lebanon

The hands of the clock have frozen in the Middle East as the region waits out the deadline set by US President Donald Trump and his administration to conclude negotiations with Iran—before a potential military escalation that would decisively tip the balance in Israel’s favor. But everything unfolding in the region during this lull amounts to ...

Antoun Sehnaoui Condemns A Defamatory Campaign Driven By Political Motives

This is Beirut 29/04 13:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Achrafieh

The Lebanese public has grown increasingly exasperated by the recurring tendency to unjustly implicate Mr. Antoun Sehnaoui in every unfortunate incident or reprehensible crime, to the point that such claims now verge on the absurd. It is as though the old saying, “Blame it on the Italians,” has, in the minds of certain malicious ...

Bint Jbeil Residents Intercept a UNIFIL Patrol

This is Beirut 29/04 13:35 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon Bent Jbeil South Israel UNIFIL

A UNIFIL patrol was intercepted on Tuesday by residents of Bint Jbeil after entering the town without an escort from the Lebanese Army. A #UNIFIL patrol was intercepted by residents of #BintJbeil. pic.twitter.com/8joFllMnAM— This is Beirut (@ThisIsBeirut_) April 29, 2025 This marks the second such incident in southern Lebanon in less ...

Akkar Under Pressure: Over 24,000 Syrian Refugees in One Month

This is Beirut 29/04 13:15 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Syria Lebanon displacement Syrians Alawites Akkar

The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8 did not defuse the Syrian displacement crisis in Lebanon. Since March 10, 24,975 Syrians (or 5,188 families) have fled Syria’s coastal areas to seek refuge in northern Lebanon. These displaced people are spread across about thirty border towns and villages, particularly in Akkar, along the ...

All Eyes Turned on the Municipal Elections in Dahyeh

Hala Abdallah 29/04 11:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Southern suburbs Hezbollah Amal Municipal elections

As Lebanon prepares for its first municipal elections since the October 2023 war with Israel, attention is turning to the southern suburbs of Beirut, or Dahyeh—a bastion of Hezbollah. The Shiite-majority area has long been under the political influence of Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal Movement. But this year’s vote carries significance far ...

SpotlightWashington Draws the Line: Iran Must Comply

Philippe Abi-Akl 29/04 08:30 - Reading : 6 minute(s)

Washington Donald Trump UN Security Council Iran

Washington and Tehran are moving on starkly opposing trajectories in the Middle East. Under President Donald Trump, the United States has prioritized dismantling any armed presence operating outside the framework of state legitimacy and eradicating terrorism from the region. This approach is part of a broader strategy to prepare the ground for a ...

Hezbollah’s Naim Qassem Sets Three Priorities for Lebanon’s Stability

This is Beirut 28/04 21:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Hezbollah Israel Naim Kassem Lebanon

In a televised speech broadcast by Al-Manar on Monday, Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem outlined three major priorities he said were essential for Lebanon’s stability, recovery and development as the country prepares for upcoming municipal elections. Qassem emphasized that the first priority is ending Israeli aggression. He called for ...