Dossiers

Fact-check: The viral image of the Eiffel Tower illuminated with the Lebanese flag on 8 or 9 April 2026 is not authenticated. Check.

After the Israeli strikes on Lebanon, the debate on the EU-Israel Association Agreement resurfaced. Paris wants to reopen the discussion, Madrid asks for a suspension, Rome hardens the tone. But between the real legal basis and the political divisions of the Twenty-Seven, a challenge remains very difficult.

The war around Iran is no longer limited to a temporary surge in energy prices. It is already reshaping the mechanisms of world crude trade. With paralysed Ormuz Strait, disorganized maritime flows, more expensive physical cargoes and persistent tensions over inflation, the oil order is entering a more political and fragmented phase. This recomposition could have a lasting impact on global growth, monetary balance and the strategic position of the United States.

Can Lebanon regain its sovereignty without international military assistance? Faced with a weakened state, paralysed institutions and the domination of a parallel armed force, the restoration of public authority appears to be the first condition for a return to stability, democracy and international trust.

In the morning, a truce seemed possible. In the evening, Lebanon already had its dead. The illusion of a regional ceasefire did not protect Beirut, Saida, Tyre or Bekaa.

At 1900 hours, Lebanon launched a day of massive Israeli strikes on Beirut, its suburbs, Saida, Bekaa, Tyre, Hermel and many southern localities. Officially, 89 deaths and 700 injuries were confirmed according to the Ministry of Health relayed by Reuters. Officially, much heavier figures are circulating, exceeding 300 deaths according to several local lifts, without official confirmation consolidated at this time. At the political level, the regional ceasefire already appears emptied of its substance on the Lebanese front.

The ceasefire between Washington and Tehran is already colliding with the Lebanese front. Israel claims that the truce does not apply to Lebanon, but Pakistan, Iran and several European partners argue that it should be part of it. In continuing its strikes on Lebanese territory, the Hebrew State not only challenged this reading, but also revived a history of truce violations, from the post-2006 overflights to the violations denounced after the truce of 2024.

Faced with the confrontation between Israel, the United States and Iran, the Gulf monarchies are entering a real geopolitical zugzwang. Whatever the outcome of the conflict, they risk a strategic, economic and psychological retreat, forcing their regional ambitions and revealing the fragility of a model based on externalised security and expansion.

Do the United States and Israel face accusations of war crimes by targeting bridges, electricity and gas? Legal and political analysis.

The article analyses the break between Moussa Sadr's national vision and the regional orientation embodied by Hezbollah. He describes a major doctrinal overthrow within Lebanese Shiism, where integration into the state would have given way to a transnational logic, deeply redefining the role of Lebanon today.

Lebanon is no longer threatened with collapse: it has already fallen. In the face of a state emptied of its substance, territorial fragmentation and the influence of external influences, the issue is no longer the return to the past, but the pragmatic construction of a new political balance, without sinking into violent dislocation.

In this time of Easter, it is difficult to address simple vows as if the world were going well, as if our region were not overwhelmed, as if the peoples of the Middle East had not crossed, once again, their share of fire, mourning and anguish. However, it may be precisely in such moments that these words must be said. Happy Easter. Not by convenience. But because we must continue to wish the light where the darkness has settled too long.

Map of Lebanon: analysis of the OCHA snapshot showing the spread of conflict, displacement and humanitarian pressure.

In southern Lebanon, the destruction of cemeteries feeds the fear of territorial and identity erasure beyond military logic.