Lebanon
Latest stories
Wronecka, Lázaro call for ceasefire as tensions escalate across Blue Line

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka and UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro appealed to all sides to recommit to the cessation of hostilities under the framework of resolution 1701, in a joint statement they published on Monday.

"It is six months since the exchanges of fire across the Blue Line began, and continue unabated, taking a heavy toll on both sides. The lives of thousands of people have been profoundly affected. Tens of civilians have tragically lost their lives while many more have lost their homes, their livelihoods and any sense of certainty for the future.

W140 Full Story
Israel bombs 'Hezbollah sites' in Baalbek region in response to drone downing

Israel's military said Sunday its warplanes had struck Hezbollah sites in eastern Lebanon, where the Iran-backed group has a strong presence, in retaliation for one of its drones being downed.

A source close to Hezbollah told an AFP correspondent in eastern Lebanon's Baalbek region that the strikes targeted Janta and Sifri in the Bekaa Valley.

W140 Full Story
Bassil says Hezbollah delusional if it thinks it can beat Israel while 'controlling' other citizens

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has hurled a new jab at Hezbollah in connection with the ongoing conflict with Israel, saying “delusional are those who think that they can control the rest of the citizens and still defeat Israel.”

“It should go without saying that we should preserve our national unity and our state and its institutions, and that we should have a president so that he be the first resistance fighter in the face of any attack, occupation or violation, whether it comes from terrorism or from the Israeli enemy,” Bassil said during an iftar banquet in Jbeil.

W140 Full Story
3 Amal fighters killed in Israeli strike on Marjeyoun

An Israeli airstrike on a house in southern Lebanon has killed three Amal Movement fighters, the Hezbollah-allied movement said.

Israel said warplanes bombed what it described as an Amal military compound and said the group was planning an attack against Israel. The military statement said its jets also struck several locations used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and a jet attacked a person doing "drone observation activity" near the border.

W140 Full Story
SWISS flight to Beirut turned back over security fears

Swiss International Air Lines said Friday it had turned back a flight in mid-air heading from Zurich to Beirut because the security situation in Lebanon had become "difficult to assess."

The flight, with 138 passengers and five crew on board, did not have permission to land back in Zurich overnight Thursday so was instead diverted to Vienna, SWISS said.

W140 Full Story
Cyprus President to visit Lebanon amid refugee spat

President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides will visit Lebanon on Monday with a ministerial delegation.

On his one day visit to Lebanon, Christodoulides will meet with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

W140 Full Story
Nasrallah says Lebanon front to remain active as long as there's war in Gaza

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday warned that Israel “will regret it if it launches any war on Lebanon,” stressing that Hezbollah is “fully prepared for any war.”

W140 Full Story
Report: Shiite Duo-FPM tensions after Saliba charged in al-Rashid case

State Security chief Maj. Gen. Tony Saliba has been charged by State Commissioner to Military Court Judge Fadi Akiki in the case of the detainee Dany al-Rashid’s escape from prison, judicial sources said.

The sources told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper that Saliba has been charged with the misdemeanors of abuse of power and misuse of influence.

W140 Full Story
Bassil urges ceasefire in south even if Gaza war continues

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has demanded “a ceasefire in south Lebanon” and “separating the matter from the developments of the war in Gaza.”

Calling for “solidarity in this critical period that the country is going through and is witnessing an unprecedented collapse,” Bassil stressed, in remarks to Kuwait’s al-Anbaa newspaper, his “support for the resistance in repelling any Israeli attack on Lebanon.”

W140 Full Story
2 killed, 2 wounded in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon

An Israeli strike on the southern border town of Aita al-Shaab killed two people and injured one Friday, the National News Agency said, while another strike on Kfarkela injured one person.

One Israeli soldier and three Lebanese civilians were earlier wounded in overnight cross-border fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli army.

W140 Full Story