Lebanon is racing against the end of UNIFIL’s mandate on 31 December 2026, under UN Security Council Resolution 2790 (2025), through diplomatic moves to avoid a security vacuum in the south and the loss of an international mechanism for documenting Israeli violations. Sources say the withdrawal will be gradual over months, amid concerns over Christian villages in the Bint Jbeil district and border points along the Blue Line, while Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri reaffirmed that Resolution 1701 is a legal guarantee of Lebanon’s right to its land. This comes as a Lebanese report examined scenarios for Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot’s handling of Lebanon and the south after he was tasked with forming the Israeli government, between adhering to the ‘Dahyeh doctrine’ and freedom of military action, and the possibility of security arrangements and conditional withdrawals under international auspices. Trump also said Jabal al-Fas could be struck if any suspicious movement is observed, according to Al-Jadeed, without details on the nature of the movement or the timing of a possible strike.
On the diplomatic front, the US State Department officially informed Lebanon that its consul general in Detroit, Ibrahim Sharara, is persona non grata, over old posts attributed to him, including praise for the 1983 bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut. L’Orient Today quoted a source close to him as saying his account was hacked and that he did not write the posts, while Sharara left the United States returning to Beirut, raising questions about the selection of diplomats and Lebanon’s foreign reputation. Reports examined the escalating campaign against the Lebanese government, considering that it goes beyond political objection to an attempt to weaken the executive and break the state’s prestige. This coincided with the battle to restore sovereign decision-making, the government’s declaration that the decision of war and peace is exclusive to constitutional institutions, the Dahyeh explosives file, robberies in Beirut, and calls to make the capital weapons-free, with warnings against pushing the army into internal confrontation. Sources told Nidaa al-Watan that Lebanon is at a fateful stage requiring restoring the concept of an independent state and rejecting any partnership or guardianship over its national decision. An MTV Lebanon article discussed Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s expected visit to Beirut on 18 November, linking it to the weapons and sovereignty test in Iraq and Lebanon, the energy file and the Kirkuk-Tripoli pipeline, and the suspension of the Iraqi fuel agreement due to dues exceeding $1.2 billion.
On the economic and agricultural level, a report showed that the war affected about 22.5% of Lebanon’s agricultural land, nearly 56,000 hectares, with 52,000 hectares concentrated in the South and Nabatieh governorates. Financial losses exceeded $530 million, with areas going out of production and access to more than half of agricultural land impossible, while Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani revealed a recovery plan and support for farmers. Politically, the participation of the four Lebanese Forces ministers in upcoming cabinet sessions is under review and assessment, in light of their boycott of the last session and withdrawal from the one before it, due to disagreements over the electricity file and the referral of the Dahyeh explosives case to the Judicial Council. Sources indicate they will participate in a session dedicated to electricity when Minister Joe Saddi returns from Qatar, while a Qatari delegation is expected in Beirut to follow up on talks. Hezbollah-affiliated charities intensified social aid to Sunni families in Bekaa areas after the decline of the Future Movement’s presence, expanding their local relations network and helping strengthen the party’s influence there, according to sources cited by Nidaa al-Watan.
An article addressed the situation of displaced southern families since 8 October 2023, some of whom try to build alternative villages in displacement areas to preserve social ties, quoting writer and activist Ali Khalifeh criticizing the choices of political and religious leaders and saying that linkage to the Iranian project turns the south into a card in the struggle for influence, concluding that Hezbollah and Naim Qassem’s promises do not return homes to their owners. A Nidaa al-Watan analysis saw that the Sunni community is passing through the most dangerous phase in its history due to leadership crises, political decline and erosion of its presence in state institutions amid regional shifts, noting shared responsibility between religious authorities and political leaders and addressing the dispute over extending the term of Mufti Abdel Latif Drian, management of Islamic endowments, the Islamist detainees file and the situation of Sunni border villages affected by Israeli aggression. On the 55th anniversary of China-Lebanon diplomatic relations on 9 November 1971, Chinese Ambassador Chen Chuandong reviewed the friendship and cooperation path, noting that trade volume rose 280 times since 1971 to $2.8 billion and that China sent more than 8,800 peacekeepers to UNIFIL over the past 20 years, and supported development, humanitarian and cultural projects in Lebanon.