Time for Lebanon’s De-Hezbollahfication
Lebanon has tasted the nightmare Israel faced on October 7, 2023. Iran’s Islamist regime and its proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas, are irrational actors who cannot be trusted with a single bullet, let alone...
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701
Without Conditions, Qatari Aid to Lebanon Isn’t Helpful
Qatar wants to help a struggling Lebanon undo the damage wrought by the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah. The 13-month-long conflict, which Hezbollah launched in the immediate aftermath...
Policy Briefs
Lebanon’s Own Laws Require Disarming Muslim Brotherhood Branch Designated by U.S. as Terror Group
The United States took aim at Islamic Group (IG), the Muslim Brotherhood’s Lebanese branch on January 13. The U.S. State Department designated IG as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and designated...
Policy Briefs
‘Far From Sufficient’: Israel Criticizes Lebanon’s Underwhelming Results in Disarming Hezbollah
Israel Says Hezbollah Rearming at Alarming Speed: Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated on January 8 that Lebanese optimism regarding the disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist...
Flash Briefs
Why was Sharaa Invited to Washington, but not Aoun?
For all his efforts, Joseph Aoun deserves Washington’s active support to enable him to accomplish even more. Until late 2024, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa was a U.S.-designated terrorist with...
Op-eds
Israeli operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah: December 1–7, 2025
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted numerous operations throughout Lebanon against Hezbollah between December 1 and December 7, 2025. Israeli activities last week were significantly less frequent...
Op-eds
The Clock Ticks on Lebanon’s Empty Promises
The next war will not wait for Lebanon to find its courage. One year on from Lebanon’s signing of the November 27, 2024 Cessation of Hostilities with Israel, Beirut’s agreement to enforce UN Security...
Op-eds
‘The Zionists Should Be Worried’: Hezbollah Mulls Response After IDF Strike Eliminates Key Commander
Warning Issued at Terror Commander’s Funeral: Sheikh Ali Daamoush, who leads Hezbollah’s executive council, warned on November 24 that “the Zionists should be worried” after...
Flash Briefs
Reconstructing Gaza: The devil is in the detail
The world is on the cusp of making the same mistake with Hamas that it did with Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006. Still, there is progress to be made if the involved parties pay attention.
Op-eds
Aoun’s Push for Talks with Israel Must Overcome Hezbollah’s Ploys
Hezbollah and Berri likely hope to use talks to get the US and Israel off their backs and keep Hezbollah armed.
Op-eds
Trump says ‘disarm’ Hezbollah – Beirut says ‘contain’ Hezbollah
Lebanon must choose: They either force the pro-Iran militia to surrender their weapons or accept that Israel will handle it for them
Op-eds
U.S. Approves $230 Million Package to Lebanese Security Forces After Pledge To Disarm Hezbollah
The United States reportedly approved a $230 million aid package for Lebanon’s security forces after the state vowed to disarm nonstate armed groups, including the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization. Sources told Reutersthat the funding was split between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), with $190 million, and the Internal Security Forces (ISF), with $40 million.
Flash Briefs
Will Lebanon Disarm Hezbollah, or Not?
The Lebanese cabinet heard, on Friday, a presentation from Army Chief Rodolphe Haykal on a confidential plan to monopolize arms, as tasked by the government on August 5. The cabinet then issued a statement,...
Op-eds
As Lebanese Cabinet Meeting on Disarmament Ends Without Clear Commitments, Hezbollah Praises its ‘Wisdom and Reason’
Government Disarmament Plan is an “Opportunity”: A senior Hezbollah official has responded positively to the Lebanese cabinet’s meeting to discuss a Lebanese Armed Forces...
Flash Briefs
What if Israel Was Right and the Arabs Were Wrong?
For over five decades, many Arab leaders have blamed Israel’s alleged intransigence, belligerence, and unfulfilled promises for the persistent failure to achieve Arab-Israeli peace. Yet, Lebanon’s...
Op-eds
Lebanese Government Claims Disarmament of Armed Palestinian Groups Underway
LAF Begins Process of Consolidating Arms: The Lebanese government claimed on August 21 that it had begun disarming Palestinian factions in the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut,...
Flash Briefs
U.S. and European Allies at Odds Over UN Security Council’s UNIFIL Mandate Extension
U.S., Europe Diverge: The UN Security Council is debating whether to renew the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which expires on August 31, highlighting disagreement...
Flash Briefs
Hezbollah Is a State within the State, Not Only “Heavy and Medium” Weapons
In policy, simplicity is valuable; naiveté is catastrophic. Lebanon has by now diluted UNSCR 1701 from dismantling Hezbollah’s militia, arms production, and illicit funding to merely surrendering “heavy and medium” weapons, or as U.S. Envoy Tom Barrack frames it: Hezbollah must hand over weapons that threaten Israel. Such oversimplification misses the root issue: Hezbollah’s very existence as a state within a state is an existential threat to the Lebanese state.
Op-eds
Has America Reversed Itself on Hezbollah?
US Envoy to Syria and Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack has reversed three decades of US policy by no longer labeling Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The shift de-internationalizes the issue of the...
Op-eds
UNIFIL Was Intended to Be a Temporary Force, and It Has Now Outlived Its Utility
After nearly five decades, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon’s (UNIFIL) mission may be ending. Israel supports the Trump administration’s decision not to extend the force’s mandate, according...