Lebanon PM says IMF wants rescue plan changes as crisis deepens

January 23, 2026 10:22 PM

Lebanon PM says IMF wants rescue plan changes as crisis deepens

The International Monetary Fund has demanded amendments to a draft rescue law aimed at hauling Lebanon out of its worst financial crisis on record and giving depositors access to savings frozen for six years, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said. The "financial gap" law is part of a series of reform measures required by the IMF in order to access its funding and aims to allocate the losses from Lebanon's 2019 crash between the state, the central bank, commercial banks and depositors. Salam told Reu...

Lebanon enters new phase of disarming non-state groups

January 9, 2026 9:49 AM

Lebanon enters new phase of disarming non-state groups

Lebanon’s military says it has completed the first phase of a government plan to fully deploy across southern Lebanon and disarm non-state armed groups, a move that directly impacts Hezbollah’s long-standing presence in the border region. The announcement comes as President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam prepare to review the next steps of the programme, which has been a priority since they took office after the Washington-brokered ceasefire that ended the 2024 conflict between H...

Lebanon and Israel hold first direct civilian talks in decades

December 4, 2025 11:08 AM

Lebanon and Israel hold first direct civilian talks in decades

Lebanon and Israel held their first direct talks involving civilian representatives in decades on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, as part of a U.S.-chaired ceasefire monitoring committee meeting. However, Lebanese officials emphasized that these were not peace negotiations and did not signal a path to normalization of relations. The meeting took place at the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in Naqoura, Lebanon, near the border with Israel along the Blue Line. The session was part...