(AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday that his country would support Lebanon with 100 million euros as Paris hosts an aid conference with big financial targets but diplomatic prospects are poor.
“The war must end as soon as possible. There must be a ceasefire in Lebanon,” Macron said, sitting alongside Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
In response, the Lebanese government chief called for “the international community to come together and support efforts to implement an immediate ceasefire.”
France has set a goal of raising 500 million euros ($540 million) in aid for Lebanon, 100 million euros more than the original UN call.
President Macron said Paris would not only contribute financially but also to re-establish control of southern Lebanon in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last Israeli-Hezbollah war in 2006. “It will also contribute to the equipment of the Lebanese army,” he said. .
Paris is also calling for increased humanitarian aid to countries with which it has historical ties and a large diaspora within France.
The latest conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah has so far claimed more than 1,550 lives and displaced 800,000 people, according to the United Nations, according to an AFP tally based on official statistics. There is.
Israel launched a ground offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in late September, continuing cross-border firefights for a year after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
President Macron said Hezbollah “must stop its provocations and indiscriminate attacks” against Israel.
But Israel “knows from experience that military success does not necessarily mean victory in Lebanon,” Macron said.
Israel has removed Hezbollah leaders in recent weeks.
“I don't know if you can protect civilization by sowing barbarism yourself,” he added.
Hopes for diplomatic progress in Paris may be hampered by the absence of Iran and Israel from the 70 countries and 15 international organizations invited, with the only U.S. representative being Acting Secretary of State Antony Blinken. .
Macron held the meeting following a one-on-one meeting with Lebanon's Mikati on Wednesday, with Germany and Canada sending Foreign Minister Annalena Bourbock and Mélanie Joly.
Germany announced on Thursday it would contribute 96 million euros to the humanitarian appeal.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking remotely, called on participants to “intensify support for (Lebanon's) state institutions, including the Lebanese Army.”
Host country France is pushing ahead with progress on three fronts: diplomacy, humanitarian aid, and Lebanon's domestic politics.
“We have put concrete proposals on the table to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrault said in a message posted to X.
France, along with the United States, is pushing for a temporary 21-day ceasefire to give room for negotiating a more permanent ceasefire.
Diplomacy offers “the only viable solution for Lebanon and Israel,” Barot said, adding that Lebanon also has 60,000 people displaced from their homes.
Prospects for progress are limited by the limited presence of the United States and the absence of Israeli or Iranian participation.
“This summit will be a failure if it does not bring an immediate end to the destruction and slaughter,” said Bashir Ayoub, the Lebanon representative for aid group Oxfam.
Barot said that beyond Macron's 100 million euro pledge, France “wants to mobilize humanitarian aid from as many countries as possible.”
Nevertheless, in Lebanon, “the need for assistance is so vast that even if aid totals hundreds of millions of dollars, it could ironically be seen as a form of palliative care,” Beirut's St. says Karim Bitar, an international relations expert at Joseph University. He stated this prior to the meeting.
The third pillar of the effort is an attempt to strengthen Lebanon's institutions, particularly the military, “to maintain the country's unity, stability and sovereignty,” Barot said.
“Resolution 1701…remains the cornerstone of stability and security in southern Lebanon,” Mikati said, echoing France's views.
1701 stipulates that the only forces on the Lebanese-Israeli border must be UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese Army, and that foreign forces may not enter Lebanon without the consent of the government.
Participants at the conference could train, equip and finance the Lebanese army to keep it functioning and allow new recruitment to make it strong enough to fulfill its mission.
