Overview

The Israeli military continued to conduct air strikes in Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreement, and the Lebanese government failed to robustly pursue accountability for violations of international humanitarian law. Israel also caused extensive destruction and damage to civilian structures and agricultural land in southern Lebanon, in violation of international humanitarian law. The Lebanese authorities continued to summon activists and journalists on criminal defamation and other vague charges, while a draft media law that could better protect freedom of expression advanced in parliament. The government extradited Egyptian-Turkish poet Abdul Rahman Al-Qaradawi to the United Arab Emirates, where he was forcibly disappeared. After years without progress, the investigation into the 2020 Beirut Port explosion began to advance. Despite some improvement, Lebanon continued to lack a universal social protection system. A proposed amendment before parliament sought to amend the Lebanese nationality law to grant nationality to children of Lebanese women. Lebanon experienced its most severe drought in recent years.