STORYLINE  ·  active

Israel-Hezbollah War in Lebanon

Israeli military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran's proxy role, and regional escalation dynamics

Aid groups warn of looming humanitarian crisis as Lebanon war displaces 800,000+

2026-03-15

War has displaced more than 800,000 people in Lebanon in a little over a week, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council, and aid groups warn the country is sliding toward a humanitarian crisis. The displacement is driven by Israeli airstrikes and evacuation orders that have forced families out of homes in Beirut’s southern suburbs and across parts of the country.

Israel says brother of Michigan synagogue attacker was a Hezbollah commander

2026-03-14

Israeli military officials said the man who attacked a Michigan synagogue in February was related to a Hezbollah commander killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon earlier this month, AP reported Sunday. The FBI’s Detroit office said it would not comment on the Israeli claims while it investigates the synagogue attack. In its statement to AP, Hezbollah did not explicitly deny the allegation about the death.

Backlash against Hezbollah as war flares in Lebanon

2026-03-10

Lebanon’s latest Israel-Hezbollah fighting has sparked rare public backlash against Hezbollah among some Shiites, as civilians shelter in schools and struggle through Ramadan, the Associated Press reported. Israeli warplanes began attacking southern Lebanon after Hezbollah rockets and drones, resuming a wider conflict just 15 months after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire ended the last war. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the Lebanese government has banned Hezbollah’s military activities, while Hezbollah critics and supporters describe sharply different explanations for why the fighting resumed.

Israel suspected of abducting Lebanese officer; commando raid kills 41 in search for Arad

2026-03-08

Lebanese officials and the family of a retired security officer who vanished in December say Israel covertly abducted him to extract information about the fate of an Israeli airman missing for four decades. The retired officer, Ahmed Shukr, a former captain with Lebanon's General Security Directorate, was last seen on Dec. 17, 2025, entering a stranger's vehicle in the eastern Lebanese city of Zahle. Days before the Associated Press reported the disappearance, Israeli commandos carried out a raid in the Bekaa Valley village of Nabi Chit, digging in a family cemetery in what the Israeli military said was a search for evidence about the fate of navigator Ron Arad, who parachuted from his jet over Lebanon in 1986 and was never seen in Israel again. Lebanon's Health Ministry said the raid and subsequent airstrikes killed 41 people and wounded dozens. No Israeli casualties were reported.

Israeli raid on Nabi Chit kills 41 in failed search for navigator missing since 1986

2026-03-07

An Israeli special force landed overnight in the eastern Lebanese town of Nabi Chit, searching for information about Ron Arad, a navigator who has been missing since 1986. Lebanon's Health Ministry said at least 41 people were killed and 40 wounded in the fighting. The Israeli military said Saturday that the force found neither Arad's remains nor any evidence of his fate.

Israel-Hezbollah fire escalates as Israeli troops push into south Lebanon

2026-03-04

Israel sent troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday, warning residents of more than 80 villages and towns to evacuate as Hezbollah said it was ready for an “open war” with Israel. The exchanges followed Hezbollah’s rockets and drones early Monday toward northern Israel and Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes in Lebanon, where the death toll was revised to 50.

Guinea releases 16 Sierra Leone security forces after border dispute

2026-02-28

Guinea released 16 soldiers and police officers it had arrested from neighboring Sierra Leone after a border dispute, Sierra Leonean authorities said. The detainees were handed over following a visit to Conakry by a delegation led by Sierra Leone’s foreign minister, Alhaji Timothy Kabba.

Sierra Leone says Guinean forces apprehended its security members

2026-02-25

Sierra Leone’s government said Tuesday that members of its security team, including an officer, were apprehended by Guinea’s military after a border incident. The government said the incident occurred Monday at the border town of Kalieyereh in Falaba district, where Sierra Leone said its forces and police were working on a border post project.

State Department orders nonessential U.S. diplomats to leave Lebanon

2026-02-25

The State Department ordered nonessential U.S. diplomats and their family members at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut to depart Lebanon as security tensions tied to Iran increased, the department said. The department said personnel who remain will face restricted travel in-country. The move came as U.S. and Iranian officials prepare for another round of nuclear talks in Geneva and President Donald Trump weighed military options.

Israeli strikes kill at least 12 in Lebanon as tensions escalate

2026-02-21

Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed at least 12 people and wounded 24 others Friday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The strikes targeted the eastern Bekaa Valley and a Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon, with the Israeli military saying it had hit "command centers" of Hezbollah and Hamas.

Drone strikes in Sudan’s Kordofan escalate, harming civilians and aid

2026-02-19

Drone strikes in Sudan’s Kordofan region are taking a growing toll on civilians and disrupting aid operations, analysts and humanitarian workers said Feb. 18 as the war nears its three-year mark. At least 77 people were killed in various attacks this week, with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces blamed for many of the strikes, according to Sudan Doctors Network.

Drone strikes on Kordofan market kill at least 28, rights group says

2026-02-17

Strikes on a market in Sudan’s Kordofan region killed at least 28 people and wounded dozens on Sunday, a rights group said. The group said drones hit a market in Sudri locality in North Kordofan province during busy hours as the war between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces nears its three-year mark.

Germany assures Lebanon it will back state authority after UNIFIL ends

2026-02-17

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Lebanon on Monday that Germany will keep supporting the Lebanese government after UN peacekeepers leave later this year. Speaking at a news conference near Beirut, Steinmeier said Germany’s navy is already training Lebanese troops as Beirut prepares for a post-UNIFIL security vacuum in the south.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino receives Lebanese passport in Beirut

2026-02-17

Gianni Infantino, president of soccer’s governing body FIFA, received a Lebanese passport from Lebanon’s Interior Ministry in Beirut on Monday, months after President Joseph Aoun granted him citizenship. Infantino said he was “very proud and very happy” to get the document and posted a video of the moment broadcast by local TV stations.

Mourners bury father and 3-year-old son killed in Israeli drone strike

2026-02-11

Mourners in southern Lebanon buried a father and his young son after they were killed in an Israeli drone strike that hit a car in the town of Yanouh. The Associated Press reported that the Lebanese health ministry said the boy was 3, and that relatives said the father, a police officer, and the child were on foot when the strike hit the vehicle.

Drone attack in Sudan kills at least 24, including 8 children, doctors say

2026-02-08

A drone attack by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces hit a vehicle carrying displaced families in central Sudan on Saturday, killing at least 24 people, including eight children, a doctors’ group said. The attack took place near Rahad in North Kordofan province, a day after a World Food Programme aid convoy was targeted nearby, according to U.N. officials.

Nine killed in Lebanon apartment building collapse as 8 missing

2026-02-07

Rescue teams pulled six people from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, with state media reporting at least nine deaths. Officials said the search continued for eight more people believed missing.

Hezbollah replaces top security official Wafiq Safa

2026-02-05

Hezbollah has replaced Wafiq Safa, the group’s longtime security liaison and coordination official, after he told its leadership he wanted to step down, two Hezbollah officials said Feb. 6. The officials said Safa was replaced by Hussein Abdullah, whose role was not publicly detailed, and that Hezbollah is reshuffling powers among departments amid the aftermath of the Israel-Hezbollah war.

UN peacekeepers in Lebanon report surge of Israeli “aggressive behavior”

2026-02-05

UN peacekeepers patrolling southern Lebanon have faced a surge of what they describe as “aggressive behavior” by Israeli forces over the past year, according to an internal report seen by The Associated Press. The report says incidents jumped from one in January to 27 in December, and describes drone-dropped grenades and machine-gun fire. Israel’s military denied it is running a campaign against the UN force and said it is working to reduce harm.

MSF says South Sudan hospital hit by government airstrike

2026-02-03

Doctors Without Borders said a hospital it runs in South Sudan was hit by an airstrike carried out by government forces late Tuesday. The group said the attack in Lankien, in Jonglei state, injured one staff member and destroyed the hospital’s main warehouse and medical supplies.

Lebanon’s recovery hinges on security and political reforms, economy minister says

2026-01-07

Lebanon’s economy minister said the country’s financial recovery depends not only on economic changes but also on security and political reforms, including steps to remove weapons from non-state groups and expand state control. Amer Bisat made the remarks after a cabinet session in which the Lebanese military reported progress on a plan to disarm Hezbollah and deploy more forces in southern Lebanon.

Israel strikes Lebanon sites it links to Hezbollah and Hamas before disarmament talks

2026-01-06

Israel’s air force struck multiple sites in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday and early Tuesday, including in Sidon, ahead of a meeting on disarming Hezbollah in border areas. The strikes came after the Israeli military warned residents in advance, and they took place nearly two hours after a spokesman posted warnings on X for planned targets.