Antoine Khoury

Hezbollah’s secretary-general Naïm Kassem lashed out on Saturday at Lebanese voices calling for the state’s monopoly over weapons, in other words, the full disarmament of his organization. 

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Joe Raggi launched a blistering attack on Hezbollah on Tuesday, declaring the group's weapons have become "a burden on the Shiite community" and warning that only state control of arms can protect the country.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa arrived in Beirut on Friday, greeted at the airport by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who made a telling plea: maintain an international force in southern Lebanon with strong European participation.

Since the mid-1980s, Lebanese Hezbollah, working in close collaboration with Iranian intelligence services and the Revolutionary Guards, has meticulously woven a network of businesses within Lebanese diaspora communities worldwide, operations frequently suspected of masking illicit activities.

The Syrian army began shelling Kurdish-held neighborhoods in northern Aleppo on Wednesday, following the expiration of a deadline given to residents to evacuate the area.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to visit Beirut on Saturday, according to Saudi channel al-Hadath and confirmed by a diplomatic source to L'Orient-Le Jour, as Lebanon attempts to recalibrate its relationship with Tehran.

Mastercard has granted Qatar’s QNB Group a license to expand card issuing and acquiring services in Syria, allowing the bank to offer Mastercard payment solutions to individuals and businesses locally and internationally.

Three rockets struck the Damascus district of Mazzeh on Saturday, landing near a military airport and damaging a mosque and a telecommunications building, according to a statement by city authorities.

Several pro-Iranian terrorist groups, led by Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, on Saturday condemned a U.S. operation carried out overnight in Venezuela, which reportedly involved strikes in the capital and the capture and evacuation of President Nicolás Maduro.

The Israel Defense Forces carried out a new incursion into Lebanese territory during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, advancing roughly 600 meters beyond the border. 

Ahmad Ali Chokr, a former officer of Lebanon’s General Security, has not been seen for the past ten days, according to Lebanese judicial and security sources. 

Lebanon’s cabinet on Friday approved a long-awaited draft law aimed at tackling the financial crisis that has paralysed the country’s economy for nearly six years, pushing it forward despite fierce resistance from political parties, banks and depositors.