DefenceTalkIsrael on Sunday praised a US proposal to resolve the country’s maritime border dispute with Lebanon, building further momentum towards an agreement between two nations still technically at war. The draft agreement floated by US envoy Amos Hochstein aims to settle competing claims over offshore gas fields and was delivered to Lebanese and Israeli officials […]https://www.defencetalk.com/israel-praises-us-proposal-for-lebanon-maritime-border-deal-79463/

Israel’s army said it would start drilling to install ground sensors along its border with Lebanon on Sunday, a year after an operation to destroy tunnels dug across the frontier. “We are deploying a defensive system into the ground.. in various locations” along the border, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told journalists. Work would get […]

Beirut: The Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said Monday it had downed and seized an Israeli drone as it flew across the Lebanese border, a week after a flash confrontation between the arch-foes. Israel’s army said a drone it was operating “fell” in Lebanon on Sunday. In what appeared to be a response, an air strike at […]

DefenceTalkThe State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Lebanon for A-29 Super Tucano Aircraft and associated equipment, parts and logistical support for an estimated cost of $462 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on Jun 5, 2015. The Government […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-approves-sale-of-a-29-super-tucano-aircraft-to-lebanon-64450/

DefenceTalkThe Lebanese army received a shipment of US weapons on Sunday, an embassy official told AFP, to help in the fight against jihadists who have staged incursions from Syria. “The Lebanese military received 72 M198 power supply (howitzers), and more than 25 million rounds of artillery, mortar and rifle ammunition,” the official said on condition […]https://www.defencetalk.com/lebanon-receives-us-artillery-ammunition-62801/

DefenceTalkThe first deliveries of Saudi-funded French weapons to help Lebanon combat jihadists will begin in April, a spokesman for Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Sunday. Fabius confirmed the time frame at a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Romain Nadal told reporters. Riyadh pledged $3 billion […]https://www.defencetalk.com/lebanon-to-start-receiving-french-arms-in-april-62804/

DefenceTalkSaudi Arabia and France sealed an agreement Tuesday for Riyadh to finance the delivery of $3 billion worth of French weapons to the Lebanese army, which has come under mounting jihadist attack. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius hailed the conclusion of the deal, first announced last December, as a major boost to the Lebanese army’s […]https://www.defencetalk.com/saudi-france-seal-3-bn-weapons-deal-for-lebanon-army-60960/

DefenceTalkLebanon announced a Saudi pledge of $3 billion on Sunday to buy military equipment from France, as it buried leading Sunni politician Mohammad Chatah, killed in a Beirut car bombing. Friday’s killing of Chatah, a prominent critic of the Syrian regime, revived painful memories of political assassinations and came as the conflict in Lebanon’s larger […]https://www.defencetalk.com/lebanon-in-3-billion-saudi-military-aid-pledge-49988/

DefenceTalkA Lebanese soldier and four attackers were killed in two separate assaults late Sunday on army checkpoints in the southern city of Sidon, the military said in a statement. “At 9:15 p.m. (1915 GMT) today (Sunday) an armed man approached an army checkpoint in the north of Sidon, and launched a hand grenade towards it, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/lebanese-soldier-4-attackers-killed-in-assaults-on-army-49941/

DefenceTalkTurkey plans to pull out troops from the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon UNIFIL, Turkish and UN sources said Saturday, while denying that the decision was linked to the kidnapping of two pilots. “An approximately 250-person engineering construction force will not be actively involved in UNIFIL in the coming period,” a Turkish diplomatic source told […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkey-to-withdraw-troops-from-un-peacekeeping-force-in-lebanon-48714/