The ceasefire in Lebanon is a throwback to 2006, when the national Lebanese army was supposed to defang Hezbollah and chart a new course for the land

Beirut: Hezbollah supporters have resorted to provocative rallies in several areas in Beirut, Mount Lebanon and the South to "deliver messages" to President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has left behind lots of rubble. Some experts fear that much of it will be dumped into the environment without controls.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said Monday that Israel should withdraw from the occupied border areas in southern Lebanon, rejecting the extension of the cease-fire arrangements to Feb. 18.

The election of President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is a political breakthrough in Lebanon and a harbinger of what could happen in a country long dismissed as unsalvageable. Beirut’s new leadership reflects the aspiration of a majority of the Lebanese people to live in a functioning state free from the dual drivers of its failure: political violence and pervasive corruption.

Investigation into 2020 explosion that killed more than 220 people, injured thousands and devastated swathes of Lebanon's capital, restarts after 2-year hiatus

Analysts, however, said Salam and Aoun have a unique opportunity. The collapse of the al-Assad regime, a constant meddler in Lebanese affairs, the weakening of Iran and the willingness of the international community to provide foreign aid and backing to Lebanon’s new leaders mean there is support for a reform agenda that wasn’t previously there.

Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, the head of Dubai conglomerate Al Habtoor Group, said on X on Tuesday he had cancelled all planned investments in Lebanon due to continuing instability, and would sell all his properties and investments in the country.

The ceasefire, brokered with US support, required Israel to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon within 60 days of signing. That deadline has passed, with Israeli officials citing ongoing operations to dismantle Hezbollah’s weapons caches and infrastructure.

Only peacekeepers, Lebanese military should be in the area, says Guterres, calling for end to Israeli 'occupation'; Macron, Aoun also demand IDF withdraw, as Jan. 26 deadline looms

The government of Lebanon, the government of Israel and the government of the United States will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after Oct. 7, 2023,” the