More than twenty Lebanese lawyers have appealed to the Attorney General’s Office at the Court of Cassation concerning « Huna Loubnan », « Ici Beirut » and « This Is Beirut », three platforms linked to the banker and businessman Antoun Sehnaoui. The report calls for an investigation into suspected contacts and cooperation with Israeli actors. He intervened after the announcement of a partnership between « This Is Beirut » and the Israeli channel i24NEWS and extended a series of episodes directly involving Sehnaoui. The latter had co-organized a dinner in Washington on 27 July 2026, attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara. The Lebanese courts then opened an investigation and issued a notice of inquiry against him.
The new judicial report does not concern only journalists or some content published separately. It raises the question of the role of the owner and financier of the media concerned.
Antoun Sehnaoui is a well-known player in the Lebanese banking and media landscape. He chairs the General Banking Corporation in Lebanon, SGBL, and has developed media interests over the years.
« Here Beirut » belongs to this media set. The French-language site was launched in 2021 with journalist Frédéric Domont. Its English-speaking version, « This Is Beirut », is today the platform that publicly announced cooperation with i24NEWS.
Sehnaoui’s financial ties with « Ici Beirut » have been documented for several years. A report by the Samir Kassir Foundation on financing Lebanese media quotes « Ici Beirut » among the online media funded by Antoun Sehnaoui.
« This Is Beirut » is also identified by several international media as belonging to the Lebanese banker. When justice became interested in Sehnaoui in July after dinner with Netanyahu, an international news agency described « This Is Beirut » as a banker-related site.
The September report therefore expands the file: the issue is no longer just that of Sehnaoui’s personal contacts with Israeli officials. It now also concerns media activities in its economic and editorial environment.
More than 20 lawyers seize the prosecution
The lawyers appealed to the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Cassation against « Huna Loubnan », « Ici Beirut » and « This Is Beirut », as well as against any person whose participation in the facts could be established by the investigation.
They request the convening of the owners and managers of the relevant platforms.
They also want the relevant security services and agencies to collect documents, communications and data to determine the exact nature of relations with Israeli actors.
The report refers to several articles of the Lebanese Penal Code as well as the legislation on the boycott of Israel.
However, it is up to the prosecution to determine whether the facts presented warrant investigation and possibly prosecution. The qualifications advanced by lawyers do not at this stage constitute judicial conclusions.
This precaution is all the more important as the dossier combines several types of facts: journalistic publications, professional contacts, media cooperation and personal or political relations.
This Is Beirut formalizes its cooperation with i24NEWS
The most recent element concerns « This Is Beirut ».
In September 2026, the English-language platform linked to Sehnaoui and i24NEWS publicly announced cooperation. A joint video presented this initiative as a rapprochement between the two editorials.
i24NEWS is an Israeli channel created in 2013 by the Franco-Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi. It broadcasts in several languages from Jaffa.
The precise nature of the agreement with « This Is Beirut » was not detailed.
In particular, the two media did not state publicly whether their relationship included regular co-production, exchange of reports, content sharing or other form of editorial cooperation.
This lack of detail is precisely one of the points that an investigation might seek to clarify.
The Prosecutor ‘ s Office could consider who negotiated the relationship, who authorized it within the Lebanese media and what possible obligations had been agreed between the two parties.
The question of Antoun Sehnaoui then becomes central because of his position as owner of « This Is Beirut ».
Owner himself targeted for contact with Israel
The schedule gives the new alert a particular scope.
Less than two months before the announcement of cooperation between « This Is Beirut » and i24NEWS, Antoun Sehnaoui himself had been targeted by Lebanese justice because of his contacts with Israeli officials.
On July 27, 2026, Sehnaoui and former American diplomat Morgan Ortagus hosted a dinner in memory of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who died on July 11.
Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara were among the participants.
American officials were also present.
After the event, photographs showed Antoun Sehnaoui at the same table as the Israeli Prime Minister and his wife.
An international news agency confirmed to an Israeli official and a person informed of the organization of the dinner that the dinner had been organized by Sehnaoui and Morgan Ortagus.
The event immediately provoked controversy in Lebanon.
Twenty lawyers had already taken the case to court
On 29 July, twenty Lebanese lawyers seized the Attorney General to open an investigation into the meeting between Antoun Sehnaoui and Benjamin Netanyahu.
In particular, they accused the banker of contacts with Israel and asked the court to consider a possible violation of Lebanese law.
On the same day, Judge Ahmad Rami el-Hajj, before the Court of Cassation, issued a 30-day search notice against Sehnaoui.
The decision required the security services to locate him and interview him.
The court had previously requested a check on the photograph of the dinner. According to information reported by an international news agency, the Technical Information Bureau had concluded that the image was genuine and had not been digitally manipulated or produced by artificial intelligence.
Sehnaoui was then in the United States.
This is not a conviction. However, it establishes that even before the new case concerning its media, its own relations with Israeli personalities were already under judicial review in Lebanon.
Proximity to Israel publicly claimed
Dinner with Netanyahu was not the first public episode involving Antoun Sehnaoui with Israel.
In April 2026 he had participated in the Days of Remembrance in Washington, D.C., the annual ceremony organized by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
His name had also been inscribed on the museum’s donor wall.
Morgan Ortagus had publicly mentioned his commitment. In particular, she had spoken of her support for an American-Israeli cultural initiative.
She had also described Sehnaoui and her family as coming from several generations of « Zionist Christians », a characterization reported by the English-speaking press.
Sehnaoui also publicly defended the establishment of diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Israel.
These positions are important to understand the political context of the case. However, they do not in themselves constitute evidence of the alleged offences in judicial proceedings.
Justice must consider specific actions, not political orientation.
Sehnaoui media had already opened their contents in Israel
Cooperation with i24NEWS is also not the first Israeli content published by the Sehnaoui-related platforms.
On 4 December 2025, « Here Beirut » had broadcast an interview with Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States.
This interview had already generated controversy in Lebanon.
It was an important precedent: a Lebanese media outlet directly gave the floor to an Israeli diplomatic representative, while both countries did not have diplomatic relations.
Beginning in February 2026, a new stage was taken with the broadcast of reports made directly in Israel.
Several of these contents are signed by Selena Ryan.
Reports from Israel from February
On 10 February 2026, « This Is Beirut » published a report by Selena Ryan giving the floor to northern Israelis on their relations with Lebanon.
Other productions follow.
In April, she interviewed Avichai Stern, Mayor of Kiryat Shmona. In May, a report focuses on Christians in Israel. In August, a production tour in Tel Aviv gave the floor to the city’s deputy mayor and Israelis in favour of rapprochement with Lebanon.
« This Is Beirut » presents Selena Ryan as an independent journalist covering Israeli society and regional affairs.
The platform also mentions its role at the head of the Israel-Lebanon Friendship Association in the Abrahamic Movement.
A journalistic survey published in September then became interested in his career. In particular, it referred to a passage into the Israeli army and to activities related to « hasbara », a term used to refer to Israeli public diplomacy and communication.
According to the information provided in the report, four reports and thirteen publications associated with Ryan were broadcast by the relevant platforms over a period of six months.
These claims will have to be verified in the context of a possible investigation.
From interview to institutional partnership
Chronology is used to measure the evolution of the file.
In December 2025, « Here Beirut » published an interview with an Israeli diplomat.
Beginning in February 2026, reports from Israel were made available to the Lebanese public.
In April, Antoun Sehnaoui participated in a ceremony at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and his positions in favour of Israel were publicly mentioned.
In July, he co-hosted a dinner with Benjamin Netanyahu. Twenty lawyers then seized Lebanese justice, and a search notice was issued against him.
In August, « This Is Beirut » continues to publish reports in Israel.
In September, the platform formalizes cooperation with i24NEWS.
Then more than twenty lawyers seized the prosecution about « Huna Loubnan », « Here Beirut » and « This Is Beirut ».
This succession alone does not prove the existence of a common strategy or a criminal offence. However, it provides the context necessary to understand why the new report far exceeds the question of a single report.
Media ownership becomes a central element
The role of Antoun Sehnaoui is thus one of the main issues that could arise from the investigation.
He is not just a businessman outside the media concerned.
He owns « This Is Beirut » and is linked to the financing and development of « Here Beirut ». The reporters specifically request that the owners of the platforms be heard.
This ownership structure could allow investigators to look at the level at which Israeli decisions were made.
Were the reports decided solely by the editors? Has cooperation with i24NEWS been negotiated by the editorial management or at the shareholder level? Has Antoun Sehnaoui participated directly in the discussions? Are there any contracts or financial agreements between the structures concerned?
No verified answer is yet available to resolve these questions.
However, they become relevant because of the convergence between media editorial initiatives and their owner’s own public contacts with Israeli officials.
What the Public Prosecutor’s Office must now establish
The folder now has two interrelated dimensions.
The first concerns Antoun Sehnaoui himself: his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, his role in organizing the Washington dinner, his public statements on Israel and the judicial proceedings opened in Lebanon this summer.
The second concerns the media under his control or financed by him: the interview with an Israeli diplomat, the reports made from Israel and, now, the public cooperation of « This Is Beirut » with i24NEWS.
The proximity between these two dimensions is the main issue of the new alert.
It does not conclude that Sehnaoui personally ordered or negotiated each publication. On the other hand, it justifies the precise determination of its role if the prosecutor decides to open an investigation.
For this reason, lawyers ask for the hearing of owners and managers and for the collection of communications, documents and data relating to the alleged facts.
The prosecutor will then have to distinguish between individual responsibilities, editorial decisions and possible institutional arrangements.
It will also have to determine whether the relations highlighted are exclusively journalistic or whether some fall within the scope of the prohibitions laid down in Lebanese law concerning Israel.
The new alert thus marks an additional step. After reviewing Antoun Sehnaoui’s personal contacts with Benjamin Netanyahu this summer, Lebanese justice is now called upon to consider relations with Israel developed by media owned or financed by the banker. The decision of the Public Prosecutor ‘ s Office on the opening of investigations and the hearing of the officials concerned is now the next step in the case.
