Country Report on Terrorism 2024 - Chapter 1 - Lebanon

Country Overview:  Terrorist groups operating in Lebanon included U.S.-designated FTOs such as Hizballah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and ISIS.  Terrorist groups, including ISIS, continued to recruit Lebanese for conflicts in Iraq and Syria.  After the cessation of hostilities went into effect on November 27, the Government of Lebanon began taking meaningful steps to ensure Hizballah’s disarmament in the southern Litani area, consistent with the cessation of hostilities arrangements and UNSCR 1701.  Separately, Lebanon’s 12 Palestinian refugee camps remained largely outside the control of Lebanese security forces and experienced terrorist recruitment and infiltration.  Reportedly, several individuals on the FBI’s Most Wanted list and the Department of State’s Rewards for Justice remained in Lebanon.

Lebanon lacks a comprehensive counterterrorism law, but several articles of Lebanon’s criminal code are effectively used to prosecute acts of terrorism.  Structural limitations in the justice system, such as due-process delays, continued to hinder the timely conduct of terrorism trials.

The Directorate of General Security regularly utilized INTERPOL data at Beirut International Airport and shared information on fraudulent travel documents with foreign embassies, while Lebanese security services coordinated with the United States on terrorism investigations.  Lebanon did not formally repatriate FTFs from Syria; instead, it prioritized the arrest of combatants, notably transferring A.A. al-Dulaimi, a key ISIS financial leader, to the Iraqi government in July.  However, Hizballah’s role in the government impeded effective action against Hizballah-linked terrorism.  Lebanon’s government did not prevent attacks against Israel but participated in the November 27 cessation of hostilities.  Hizballah members convicted in absentia for the 2005 Hariri assassination remain at large.

In 2024, the FATF placed Lebanon on its gray list for strategic deficiencies in its AML/CFT regime.

2024 Terrorism Trends:  Hizballah carried out missile and rocket attacks against Israel almost daily until the cessation of hostilities arrangements went into effect on November 27. Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Internal Security Force units, including those receiving U.S. support, undertook enforcement actions against suspected terrorists in 2024.  On May 31, the LAF arrested eight individuals who confessed to their linkage to ISIS.

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