Lebanese Armed Forces

Lebanon’s Pretend Peace with Israel Revives Arafat’s Playbook

What is the point of strengthening the LAF if internal dialogue is the only tool Beirut intends to use to restore state sovereignty?

How Hezbollah reframed the battle for Ali al Taher as Israel advanced

Nearly a week after demolishing Hezbollah’s underground complex at Ali Al Taher in south Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces on September 16 disclosed new details about its roughly three-month...

8 Questions Facing the United Nations at UNGA 81

The United Nations was formed “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” Yet more armed conflicts rage worldwide today than at any point since the world body’s formation at the end...

LAF-Hezbollah coordination and the limits of Lebanon’s disarmament effort

Israel assesses with “fairly high probability” that the Lebanese military is coordinating its activity in Lebanon’s disarmament pilot zones with Hezbollah, Israel’s Channel 14 reported on...

Is Hezbollah finished, or just adapting?

IDF destroys Hezbollah underground command complex at Ali al Taher, withdraws from ridge

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on September 10 that its 36th Division destroyed more than two kilometers of Hezbollah underground infrastructure beneath southern Lebanon’s Ali al Taher...

Israel Razes Hilltop Hezbollah Stronghold, Securing Buffer Zone in South Lebanon

After a siege lasting nearly three months, Israeli forces are now in control of a strategic hilltop in southern Lebanon dubbed Iran’s “second front” against the Jewish state. The Ali al-Taher...

Lebanese Army details pilot zone arms seizures, claims operational control

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) on September 9 issued what appears to be its first official, public accounting of weapons and munitions confiscated during operations in Zawtar al Gharbiyeh, Froun,...

Lebanese Army intensifies Nabatieh deployment as report says mission excludes Hezbollah disarmament

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is reinforcing its presence in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh after several days of intensified Israeli military operations. Lebanon’s Al Modon newspaper reported that...

Lebanon’s Inaction Is Dooming the Pilot Zones Project

Lebanon’s pilot zone experiment, established under the U.S.-brokered Trilateral Framework, has so far failed.

Israel says Hezbollah drone attack wounded 3 soldiers at Ali al Taher; IDF kills Hezbollah commanders in response

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on August 15 that Hezbollah attacked Israeli troops operating on the Ali al Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon with an explosive drone. An IDF officer and two...

Like Iraq, Lebanon Must Arrest Militia Commanders

While Iraq is acting like a sovereign state in its effort to disarm militias, Lebanon has largely become a bystander as Israel pursues the dismantlement of Hezbollah.

Donald Trump’s Lebanon Race

US rewards for Lebanon should follow, rather than precede, Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Israel says Hezbollah launched drone attack on strategic ridge amid ceasefire

On July 29, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Hezbollah launched an “explosive drone” overnight toward an IDF engineering vehicle in the Ali Taher Ridge area of southern Lebanon. Ynet reported that...

Hezbollah’s Financing Strategies: Recovering From War With Israel

Iran has spent more than four decades building Hezbollah into a force capable of making war against Israel in hopes of one day destroying the Jewish state. Israeli forces have inflicted tremendous damage on Hezbollah’s leadership, arsenal, and manpower, yet the terror group is rebuilding, thanks in no small part to its globe-spanning illicit finance network. To shed greater light on this crucial subject, FDD has invited Israeli expert Dr. Iftah Burman to provide a robust overview of the transnational web of enterprises, stretching across the Middle East — and from Latin America to West Africa and into cyberspace — that sustains Hezbollah’s aggression. This work provides information essential to intelligence and law enforcement agencies in every country, including the United States, that recognizes the severity of Hezbollah’s threat to peace, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East.

We paid $3 billion for Lebanon’s army to make excuses for Hezbollah

This week, the president of Lebanon met at the White House with President Donald Trump to discuss the June security framework intended to systematically address Hezbollah’s military...

Mr. Aoun Came To Washington. Lebanon Now Owes Results.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s July 21 meeting with President Donald Trump clarified the terms of the U.S.-Lebanese relationship but did not resolve Lebanon’s central problem: Hezbollah’s weapons...

‘Pilot Zones’ Pitting Beirut Government Against Hezbollah Launched in South Lebanon

Israel ceded security control over three southern Lebanese towns on July 21 in a test of the Beirut government’s ability to keep out the Hezbollah terrorists who were operating in the area. The institution...

Why Lebanon’s Pilot Zones Matter at the Trump-Aoun Summit

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s meeting this week with U.S. President Donald Trump offers Washington an important opportunity to press Beirut to implement pilot zones in southern Lebanon designed...

The Israel-Lebanon framework agreement explained

On June 26, Israel and Lebanon signed the Trilateral Framework Between the United States, Israel, and Lebanon, whose goal is to end the conflict between Israel and Lebanon, secure both countries’ sovereignty...