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Lebanon’s Presidency Torn Between The Taif Accord and Hezbollah’s Arms
Lebanon faces today one of its most dangerous political and security thresholds in years. The threat of a new war is no longer confined to diplomatic warnings. It has evolved into mounting Israeli military pressure, amid the unresolved issue of illegitimate weapons and a firmly held international conviction that the continuation of this reality poses…
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How the Islamic Group in Lebanon Was Added to the U.S. Terrorism List
The U.S. decision was neither incidental nor disconnected from broader regional developments. As the war in Gaza reshaped political and security calculations across the Middle East, the Treasury Department, in coordination with the State Department, classified Lebanon’s Islamic Group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and added its leader, Mohammed…
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Venezuela, Hezbollah and the ‘Keys’ to 130 Countries
The arrest of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela was not merely a political turning point in Latin America; it was akin to an “earthquake” whose aftershocks reached Tehran and extended from there to Beirut’s southern suburb. For Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Caracas had long functioned as a financial and logistical “lung,” allowing the group to breathe beyond the…
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Lebanon: Reassurances Falter as Airstrikes Hit
The specter of military escalation has once again come to hover over Lebanon, following Israeli airstrikes carried out on Thursday targeting sites in southern Lebanon and other border areas. In a statement issued on Thursday, the Israeli military said the strikes targeted Hezbollah positions, including “a training complex belonging to the Radwan Force and military…
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Fleeing Syria to Lebanon, Death Dwarfs Survival Odds
On a stormy night, crossing from Syria into Lebanon was not a choice but a forced spiral into the unknown. The Great Southern River in the western countryside of Homs — the natural boundary between the two countries — was swollen with muddy water and surging currents, while the rain turned its banks into sticky…
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Amid Festivities and Tensions, Lebanon Proves Its Resilience
Between images of escalating security incidents on screens and social media platforms on one hand, and an unrelenting longing for her “first home” on the other, Rana faced a difficult decision: should she visit Lebanon during the holiday season or postpone the trip? She says she hesitated for a long time, fearing the security situation,…
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Year of Unfinished Endings: How 2025 Reset the Middle East’s Fault Lines
2025 began as yet another chapter in what has felt like a perpetual decade of conflict in the Middle East. The war in Gaza continued unabated, sectarian tensions once again threatened to plunge Syria into chaos, clashes persisted between Hezbollah and Israel along the Lebanese border, and a brief but intense conflict erupted between Israel and Iran. As the…
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Lebanon, Syria Seek a Way Out of Roumieh Prison Stalemate
More than a year has passed since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, yet more than 2,000 Syrian prisoners remain in Lebanese jails, enduring the uncertainty of their fate amid a negotiation process that has yet to reach a conclusion. Among them are individuals detained on politically motivated charges or for participating in the Syrian…
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Assad-Era Remnants in Lebanon: Legal and Security Risks
The killing of Ghassan Nassan al-Sukhni– a former military commander in Syria’s ousted regime’s army, is not an unsignificant incident. A few bullets ended Sukhni’s life in Lebanon’s Keserwan region, but they also reopened one of the most sensitive and complex files facing Lebanon: the presence of remnants of the Assad regime on Lebanese soil,…
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Second Phase of Hezbollah Disarmament Poses Key Test for Lebanon
As the year draws to a close, Lebanon is entering a delicate phase in which efforts to confine weapons to state authority north of the Litani River have moved to the forefront of political and security debates. At the center of the issue is Hezbollah’s arsenal, widely seen as the most significant test of the…