French President, Emmanuel Macron has announced that France would be supplying €100m (£83m / $108m) in humanitarian aid to Lebanon.
This came as France is hosting an international conference today, Thursday, October 24, 2024, for Lebanon.
He noted that in the immediate term, massive aid is needed for the Lebanese population, “both for the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the war and for the communities hosting them.”
The Lebanese government has stated that over 2,500 people have been killed, more than 12,000 wounded, and 1.2 million people displaced since Israel stepped up its aerial attacks and staged an incursion into southern Lebanon.
French organizers hope participants’ financial pledges of humanitarian aid will meet the $426 million the United Nations says is urgently needed.
Speaking at an international conference in Paris to rally humanitarian and military aid for Lebanon which is being attended by about 70 nations and international groups, including Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, Macron said that the conference would support the recruitment of 6,000 new troops for the Lebanese army.
France aims at coordinating international support to strengthen Lebanon’s armed forces so they can “deploy more broadly and efficiently” in the country’s south as part of a potential deal to end the war.
Such a deal could see Hezbollah withdraw its forces from the border.
Lebanon’s army has been hit hard by five years of economic crisis. It has an aging arsenal and no air defenses, leaving it in no position to defend against Israeli incursions or confront Hezbollah.
The French President said that it would also provide key supplies.
Also, Macron mentioned the UN peacekeeping force, UNIFIL, saying that it needed to adapt its role to the circumstances.
He added that attacks on it by Israeli forces were not justified.
Macron condemned Israel for continuing its military operations in Lebanon, “in the South, in Beirut, elsewhere, and that the number of civilian victims continues to rise,” and reiterated his call for a ceasefire.
Paris also seeks to help restore Lebanon’s sovereignty and strengthen its institutions. The country, where Hezbollah effectively operates as a state within a state, has been without a president for two years while political factions fail to agree on a new one.
Earlier, France’s Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot described Lebanon as being “on the edge of the abyss.”
Describing Lebanon, a country that France held a mandate over in the aftermath of the first world war, as “France’s friend,” Barrot added, “It is our duty to act and that’s why France has taken this initiative.”
Neither Iran or Israel have been invited to the conference.
Lebanon In Support Of US-France Ceasefire Proposal
Speaking at the international conference organised by France in Paris, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati said that his country still supports the 21-day ceasefire proposal on the table that was brokered by the US and France.
Neither Israel or the Iranian-backed Hezbollah have accepted the proposal.
Mikati said that the Lebanese army had begun recruitment and could deploy additional troops in the south of the country to help enforce a ceasefire but said that the armed forces needed financial and training support from the international community.
Mikati also said that UN security council resolution 1701, which was intended to resolve the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, should form the basis of any settlement.
The resolution calls for a buffer zone between the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon up to the Litani River where only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeeping forces would be allowed to operate.
The result would effectively force Hezbollah back about 30km (18 miles) from northern Israel, while removing any Israeli presence inside southern Lebanon.
READ ALSO: Barker-Vormawor Challenges Supreme Court’s Exclusive Constitutional Interpretation Power
