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Outlet profile

This Is Beirut

Lebanese pro-sovereignty, pro-West

Owned byFunded by Antoun Sehnaoui, chairman of SGBL (Société Générale de Banque au Liban) and related French-European banking entities; the outlet's website does not publicly identify any owner or backer
FundingPrivate funding from Antoun Sehnaoui; no subscription model, donation drive, or funding disclosure is listed on the outlet's website
On the administrationbroadly supportive

Background

This Is Beirut is an English-language platform covering Lebanon, the broader Middle East, and U.S. foreign policy, describing itself as operating 'at the intersection of policy and media' with the rigor of a think tank. It maintains offices in both Beirut and Washington, D.C. The outlet appears to have launched around 2023 and underwent a relaunch in mid-2026, though it does not publish a detailed founding history on its website. In late July 2026, L'Orient Today — a respected Beirut-based independent daily — reported that Antoun Sehnaoui, chairman of SGBL (one of Lebanon's largest banks), is the primary funder behind This Is Beirut along with its French-language sister outlet Ici Beyrouth and the Arabic-language Hunna Lubnan; the Daraj investigative outlet published related reporting corroborating Sehnaoui's media role. The outlet's funding structure is not disclosed publicly. Separately, a Lebanese judge in 2026 issued an order that could lead to Sehnaoui's arrest over allegations of unauthorized contact with Israel after he was photographed meeting privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington. Editorially, This Is Beirut consistently frames Hezbollah as an Iranian proxy undermining Lebanese sovereignty, supports Lebanon-Israel peace talks, and has published opinion pieces backing U.S. Secretary of State Rubio's approach to training the Lebanese army and the Trump administration's trilateral disarmament framework for southern Lebanon.

Sources

  1. About | This Is Beirut
  2. Antoun Sehnaoui – Wikipedia
  3. Why are Antoun Sehnaoui's Media Arms Targeting Daraj? – Daraj
  4. Lebanon banker exposed as major force behind normalisation drive with Israel – Middle East Monitor
  5. Lebanese lawyers file complaint against banker who met Netanyahu in Washington – Times of Israel
  6. Meet the media and militiamen funded by 'Lebanese AIPAC Guy' pushing Beirut into Israel's hands – The Grayzone
  7. Lebanon's Place in Trump's Middle East Strategy | This Is Beirut
  8. Inside the Trump-Aoun Relationship: Opportunities and Risks | This Is Beirut
  9. Rubio is Right, a Vetted and Trained Lebanese Army Could be the Answer | This Is Beirut

Profile compiled 2026-09-11; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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