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SvennoJ on 24 October 2024
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UNRWA seeking support in Lebanon-focused conference in Paris

The head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says he will ask for further support at the France-hosted Lebanon conference today so that the organisation can remain “a key humanitarian responder and a stabilising force” with its work to aid millions of refugees across the region.

Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X that UNRWA shelters in Lebanon are now protecting Palestinians, Lebanese and Syrians alike against Israeli military attacks.

He said his teams met a displaced Lebanese who had never interacted with Palestinians or Syrians before but is now exchanging stories of displacement and collective traumas with others in the shelter.

Lazzarini said he wishes to expand this “inclusive approach” adopted by UNRWA, but as Israel intensifies its hostile approach against the organisation, he cautioned that a “political will” to end the violence remains the only way out.


France to provide more than $108m in humanitarian aid to Lebanon

Speaking at an international aid conference for Lebanon in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron says his country will provide 100 million euros ($108 million) in aid to Lebanon amid Israeli attacks on the country.

“We must be ambitious for those who love Lebanon and for those who are not only seeking their personal interest,” Macron said, sitting next to Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Macron reiterated his call for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. He said he regretted that Iran had backed Hezbollah against Israel but also criticised Israel’s operations in the south of Lebanon. “The destruction is there. The victims are there. More violence is there. And we cannot accept this,” he said.


France hosts Lebanon conference hampered by empty seats

An aid conference for Lebanon has opened in Paris in the hope of raising half a billion euros ($540bn), with hosts France also aiming at diplomatic progress for the country. “This country, France’s friend, is on the edge of the abyss,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in a message posted to X.

“It is our duty to act and that’s why France has taken this initiative,” he added.

But in the absence of key players, any political breakthrough appears remote in the conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has so far killed more than 1,500 and displaced about 800,000 people.

France wants to reinstate UN Security Council resolution 1701, which sealed the end of the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006. The resolution stipulates that the only armed forces on Lebanon’s southern frontier with Israel should be UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army.

Paris is also seeking an increase in humanitarian aid for a country to which it has historical ties and which has a large diaspora in France. About 70 countries and 15 international organisations are expected, although the list of invitees did not include either Iran or Israel.


Displaced people in Lebanon must be allowed to go back: Macron

The French president says a ceasefire must be reached that allows displaced people in Lebanon to go to their homes “in security”.

“This is a priority that necessitates our commitment, and we need to learn our lesson. We need to know that the current situation must not be there,” he told attendees at the Lebanon aid conference.

Macron also reasserted that UN resolution 1701 “must be applied completely” amongst all parties to reach “peace, security and stability”. The resolution ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and called for the removal of all armed groups in the south except the Lebanese army.


Mikati says Lebanon needs help to expand army and rebuild

International support will be needed to shore up and expand Lebanon’s army and rebuild the country’s destroyed infrastructure, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has told the aid conference on Lebanon in Paris.

Mikati said the Lebanese government had decided to recruit more troops and could deploy 8,000 soldiers as part of a plan to implement a ceasefire and the UN Security Council resolution which calls for the army to be deployed in southern Lebanon.