France pledged to provide a 100-million euro (USD 108-million) package to support Lebanon at an international conference Thursday, as President Emmanuel Macron said massive aid is needed to support the country where war between Hezbollah militants and Israel has displaced a million people, killed over 2,500 and deepened an economic crisis. 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, Macron said in his opening speech at the conference. French organisers hope participants' financial pledges of humanitarian aid will meet the USD 426 million the United Nations says is urgently needed. Italy this week announced new aid of 10 million euros (USD 10.8 million) and Germany on Wednesday pledged an additional 60 million euros (USD 64.7 million) for people in Lebanon. Macron condemned Israel for continuing its military operations in Lebanon, "in the South, in ..
France on Thursday hosts an international conference for Lebanon to rally military and humanitarian aid for the country where war between Hezbollah militants and Israel has displaced a million people, killed over 2,500 and deepened an economic crisis. 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. But the international conference comes as critics say French President Emmanuel Macron's diplomatic approach in the Middle East has been blurred by his apparent evolving approach and sometimes chaotic communication. Still, France's historic links with Lebanon, a former colony, and its influential diplomacy give Paris momentum to coordinate a proper response to the massive challenge that the war in Lebanon now poses, said Middle East expert Rym Montaz, editor in chief of Carnegie
Inside what was once one of Beirut's oldest and best-known cinemas, dozens of Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians displaced by the Israel-Hezbollah war spend their time following the news on their phones, cooking, chatting and walking around to pass the time. Outside on Hamra Street, once a thriving economic hub, sidewalks are filled with displaced people, and hotels and apartments are crammed with those seeking shelter. Cafes and restaurants are overflowing. In some ways, the massive displacement of hundreds of thousands of people from south Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut's southern suburbs has provided a boost for this commercial district after years of decline as a result of Lebanon's economic crisis. But it is not the revival many had hoped for. The displacement revived Hamra Street in a wrong way, said the manager of a four-star hotel on the boulevard, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the problems the influx has caused for the neighbourhood. For th
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According to Israeli military, Safieddine was killed alongside Hussein Ali Hazima, the Commander of Hezbollah's Intelligence Headquarters during the strike on October 4
Destroyed in the attack were the base's headquarters, ammunition depots, underground infrastructure, fast vessels, and other assets
Hashem Safieddine, a close relative of Hassan Nasrallah, held important roles within Hezbollah's military and organisational structures and was influential in the group's financial affairs
Lebanon's Health Ministry says the death toll from an Israeli strike near one of Beirut's main hospitals has climbed to 13, with dozens more wounded. The airstrike late Monday hit a building facing the main government hospital in the capital. The ministry said Tuesday that 57 other people were wounded in the strike. Footage circulating on social media showed that the strikes hit close to the hospital's entrance. Israel says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians.
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While Hochstein is likely to push for calm after a year of fighting during which Israel killed leaders of both Hezbollah in Lebanon
Panicked crowds clogged the streets and caused traffic jams in some parts of Beirut as they tried to get to neighbourhoods thought to be safer, witnesses said
Israel's infantry has also carried out its deepest operation in Lebanon, as per the report
This is in continuation of the UAE stands with Lebanon campaign
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesperson confirmed that the prime minister was not in the vicinity during the incident, and there were no casualties
Israeli jets struck the southern suburbs of Beirut early Wednesday for the first time in six days, Lebanese state media reported. The casualty count was not yet clear. The attack comes just one day after caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the United States government gave him some assurances of Israel easing its strikes in the Lebanese capital. Israel says it is striking Hezbollah assets in the suburbs, where the militant group has a strong presence, but it is also a busy residential and commercial area. The Israeli military said the Wednesday strike hit a weapons warehouse under a residential building. The Israeli military posted an evacuation warning on the X platform saying it is targeting a building in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood. An Associated Press photographer who witnessed the strikes said there were three in the area. The first strike was documented less than an hour after the notice. Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8 in solidarity with the ...
The UN Security Council expressed strong concern Monday as Israel has fired on and wounded UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon during intensified fighting, reiterating its support for their role in supporting security in the region. It's the first statement by the UN's most powerful body since Israel's attacks on the positions of the peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL began last week, drawing international condemnation. UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Lacroix told reporters that Secretary-General Antnio Guterres confirmed Monday that peacekeepers will remain in all their positions even as Israel has urged the peacekeepers to move 5 kilometers (3 miles) north during its ground invasion in Lebanon. Israel has been escalating its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon across a UN-drawn boundary between the two countries. The sides have been clashing since the Iranian-backed militant group started firing rockets a year ago in solidarity with its ally Hamas in Gaza. Hamas' deadly attacks
More than 400,000 children in Lebanon have been displaced in the past three weeks, a top official with the U.N. children's agency said Monday, warning of a lost generation in the small country grappling with multiple crises and now in the middle of war. Israel has escalated its campaign against the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group, including launching a ground invasion, after a year of exchanges of fire during its war with Hamas in Gaza. The fighting in Lebanon has driven 1.2 million people from their homes, most of them fleeing to Beirut and elsewhere in the north over the past three weeks since the escalation. Ted Chaiban, UNICEF's deputy executive director for humanitarian actions, has visited schools that have been turned into shelters to host displaced families. What struck me is that this war is three weeks old and so many children have been affected, Chaiban told The Associated Press in Beirut. As we sit here today, 1.2 million children are deprived of education. Thei
So far the main focus of Israel's military operations in Lebanon has been in the south, the Bekaa Valley in the east and the suburbs of Beirut
These initiatives affirm the UAE's leading global position to provide relief and stand in solidarity with Lebanon
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