Award-winning, Beirut-based war correspondent/conflict journalist, commentator, filmmaker. Reports from the ground.

Donetsk/London/Beirut/Moscow
As a foreign journalist that lives and works in Lebanon I never wanted to be the centre of attention. After Israel launched an attack on me and my dear friend @AliRida_SB I was unwittingly catapulted into the limelight. I have never courted "fame" and until recently not engaged too much in social media, which, while it has positives, is a breeding ground for misinformation and a proliferation of grifters speaking over the top of the people to whom this land belongs. Over the past years I have made hundreds of films, but always raised the voices of the people, centring them and as a journalist for an international news organisation endeavoured to bring their stories to the world. It is a basic journalistic principle and one I try my best to adhere to. More often than not war ends up as a cash cow for influencers, YouTubers and the like seeking internet fame and donations to allow them to continue their “work”. Sadly they often have no regard for the people on whose land they are treading or their safety - rarely, if ever, bothering to speak to them. Lebanon is not “a war zone”. It is a land that belongs to its people. The “bombed out buildings” you pose in front of are people’s homes, their businesses, their lives and should be treated with dignity and respect - not simply a place for crass “hero shots” This is the land soaked in the blood of thousands of martyrs, those that have given their lives to defend their homes. We must walk with dignity and humility. We are not and should never be the story. Our job, especially as guests in this country is to raise the voices of the people, not for vanity shots or to promote ourselves as “brave” Unless you are bringing context, history, details and most importantly, speaking to the people then what you are doing becomes nothing more than tourism - exploiting the people for clicks, internet fame or money. Journalists in the field should always defer to their Lebanese peers, the people that live here and know the land better than anyone, not act as “white saviours.” Lebanon has many great journalists, commentators, analysts, writers whose knowledge is invaluable to understand this country and its history. We stand on the shoulders of giants and for as long as we are in the field our mic will remain the tribune of the people. For updates and analysis follow: @AliRida_SB @samerhajali @AmalKhalil83 @HadiHtt @Marwa__Osman @Leila1H @HalaJaber @HasanAtieh1 @aliimortada @radwanmortada @roqchams @EyesOnSouth1 @sayedhashem90 @hasanfakih24 @fatimadaoud @SondossAlAsaad @LaraJBitar @Galgalpheebs @levantupdates @AbdlKamh @smarterleb @HanadyGerges @RaniaKhalek @HusseinSabralb @TamjidKobaissy @AlakhbarNews @manarenglish @mayadeenlebanon @MayadeenEnglish @BasiraPress_ @beirutreview25 @TVFreePalestine I am sorry for those I missed - please add suggestions below
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Steve Sweeney retweeted
Never has the concept of Liberal Zionism looked more absurd and contradictory. It almost makes you feel sorry for people who simply can't accept the evidence before their eyes that the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians was inevitable from the very beginning of Zionism. As Theodor Herzl wrote in his diary on June 2nd 1895: “We must expropriate gently the private property on the estates assigned to us. We shall try to spirit the penniless population across the border by procuring employment for it in the transit countries, while denying it employment in our own country. The property owners will come over to our side. Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly.”
“settlers are undermining the settler project” guys we’re reaching levels of liberalism heretofore thought impossible
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I agree. Disarming the US, I$rael and Britain would be a good starting point…
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I$rael continues its systematic destruction of schools in Southern Lebanon, part of its ongoing acts of genocide carried out with the compliance of Western regimes
In their continuous, systematic destruction, the Israeli forces demolished al-Mabarrat School in Khiam around midnight.
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Steve Sweeney retweeted
Weeks ago, I published a photograph of a burned truck in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, not knowing the story of the man killed inside by an Israeli attack. His son reached out to me, telling me that this was his father's vehicle, and that Israel had killed him while he was transporting food to the area. My latest: ukcolumn.org/article/the-iro…
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Steve Sweeney retweeted
Carole, you'll be delighted to know that Sergey Markov was never Putin’s spokesman. What's more, he left the Russian parliament 15 years ago and has since been designated a “foreign agent” by Moscow, reportedly over his links to Azerbaijan. Although there's a certain irony in denouncing the BBC for spreading misinformation while relying on misinformation supplied by the BBC.
Of all the people who could cast some light on this subject, BBC Newsnight chose…Putin’s former spokesman?
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Olive harvesting season in southern Lebanon…
Three Lebanese citizens have been killed by Israel in southern Lebanon in less than 48 hours: Edgar Jallo, a First Sergeant in the Internal Security Forces, was killed this morning by the explosion of unexploded Israeli ordnance on the outskirts of Ain Ebel while working in an agricultural field. Ali Abdel-Hassan Sweidan, a retired First Warrant Officer in the Lebanese Army, killed on the outskirts of Yater when an Israeli tank shell directly targeted him. Engineer Hussein Ali Ramadan, killed by unexploded Israeli ordnance while harvesting olives on his land in Froun.
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Steve Sweeney retweeted
Ali Abdel Hassan Sweidan was killed this afternoon in the southern Lebanese town of Yater after being targeted by an Israeli artillery shell while surveying his land.
An Israeli attack on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese town of Yater has killed a local resident who was checking his land and olive trees. This is the second Lebanese citizen killed today during the first week of olive harvest season.
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Olive harvesting season in southern Lebanon…
Lebanese citizen martyred in the southern town of Froun after an Israeli war remnant exploded while he was picking olives. The video below, circulated on social media, shows rescuers retrieving the body of the martyr, identified by local media as Hussein Ali Ramadan.
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Steve Sweeney retweeted
Lebanese engineer Hussein Ali Ramadan was killed by the detonation of unexploded Israeli ordnance while harvesting olives on his land in the southern Lebanese town of Froun.
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Three years of war in Lebanon, these years of devastation. More than 7 per cent of the country occupied by Israel. The south ravaged. Thousands killed in Israeli strikes. A slew of ceasefires that were never upheld. This is what’s left of Mansouri, a village outside the occupied area, reduced to rubble after the June ceasefire.
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I$rael destroys olive trees in Zawtar Al Sharqieh as locals in neighbouring Zawtar Al Gharbieh harvest their crops. As we filmed Merkava tanks and D9 bulldozers made their way through the streets of the occupied zone. This is olive season in southern Lebanon. Full film to follow…
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A tale of two Zawtar’s: on one side in Zawtar Al Gharbieh locals were picking olives, on the other in Zawtar Al Sharqieh inside the so-called “yellow zone” the Zionists were destroying olive trees using what we believe to be white phosphorus. Full film to follow…
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Steve Sweeney retweeted
"For a colonized people the most essential value, because the most concrete, is first and foremost the land: the land which will bring them bread and, above all, dignity." — Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth
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Steve Sweeney retweeted
The defense minister, who is leading the battles to liberate Yemen from Saudi Arabia, is Sunni. And, very much so, Yemen is not sectarian. The government we overthrew in 2011 was headed by a Zaidi
Yemen’s Defense Minister is Sunni. Many of the fighters around him are Shia. A reminder that Yemen cannot be fully understood through a Sunni–Shia lens. For many Yemenis, sovereignty, dignity, and Palestine have proven more unifying than sectarian labels.
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Steve Sweeney retweeted
My latest for @ukcolumn examines the Israeli strike that killed three generations of a southern Lebanese family in Kfar Rumman, including six children. I spoke with Dr. Lina Farhat, a relative, about the family's final days, and what happened to the two surviving children after the massacre ukcolumn.org/article/the-unr…
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Steve Sweeney retweeted
Lebanese Army to hold military drills with the three countries whose bombs kill and main Lebanese civilians every day.
Lebanon & UK to hold joint military exercises with US, France participation —— The Lebanese army will conduct joint military exercises with British forces this month, the two sides said on Monday, with troops and representatives from several other countries, including the US and France, also participating. The Lebanese army said the joint “Pegasus Cedar 2026” exercise will begin on Tuesday and is intended to “bolster the capabilities of military units and raise the level of coordination between the Lebanese army and friendly armies.” The drills will include “training on reconnaissance, raids and combat in built-up areas,” among other activities, the army said. The British embassy said UK troops stationed in Cyprus would “join their Lebanese counterparts in the Air Assault Regiment in a landmark military exercise aimed at strengthening bilateral defense ties and enhancing operational readiness.” “Personnel from the armies of the United States and Italy will also take part, with representatives from the armies of France, Cyprus, Qatar, and Jordan joining as observers,” it added.
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🚨BREAKING: I$raeli fighter jets over Beirut ✈️ ✈️ ✈️
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Steve Sweeney retweeted
The Guardian reports that the percentage of British Jews who strongly support Israel increased 13% since the start of the accelerated Genocide in Gaza. Read that again. theguardian.com/news/2026/oc…
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This is a genuine story in the British press, I shit you not
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Steve Sweeney retweeted
Can't emphasize enough how important the film 'Journacide' is. It documents Israel's crimes against brave Lebanese journalists like Amal Khalil, Ali Shoeib, and Fatima and Mohamad Fatouni. Link to an interview with the writer and director Sean Murray in the next tweet. Hopefully it will be available to watch online soon. Thank you @radwanmortada and @SweeneySteve
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