Laila Bassam

Lebanon's army has blown up so many Hezbollah arms caches that it has run out of explosives, as it races to meet a year-end deadline to disarm the Shi'ite militia in the south of the country under a ceasefire agreed with Israel, two sources told Reuters.

The pager explosions and Nasrallah's killing in an Israeli air attack in September 2024 turned out to be the opening salvos of an Israeli assault that killed more than 4,000 people across Lebanon.

Zainab Mustarah once spent her days running an events planning firm in Beirut. But for the last year, she has been in and out of surgery to save the remnants of her right hand and both eyes.

The United States has presented Lebanon with a proposal for disarming Hezbollah by the end of the year, along with ending Israel's military operations in the country and the withdrawal of its troops from five positions in south Lebanon, according to a copy of a Lebanese cabinet agenda reviewed by Reuters.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem threatened Israel directly for the first time in months in a televised speech on Tuesday, saying missiles would fall on it if it resumed a broad war on Lebanon.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stepped up his calls for Hezbollah to disarm on Thursday, suggesting failure to do so would give Israel an excuse to continue attacks and saying the issue would be on the agenda of a cabinet meeting next week.

The group began a major strategic review in the wake of its devastating war with Israel.

Reuters video showed smoke billowing from the area after the first strikes on the Hezbollah stronghold in over a month.

Amidst the rubble left by Israeli bombardment of south Lebanon, campaign posters urge support for Hezbollah in elections on Saturday as the group aims to show it retains political clout despite the pounding it took in last year's war.

Lebanon passes banking secrecy law in third attempt to meet IMF demands