French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged €100 million ($108 million) in emergency humanitarian aid to crisis-ridden Lebanon, where Israel is waging a ground and air offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
“The war must end as soon as possible, we need a ceasefire in Lebanon,” Macron said Thursday at an international aid conference in Paris.
He assured the country and its people of support in times of need and in the reconstruction of “a free, sovereign Lebanon.”
The United Nations estimates the immediate emergency aid the country needs at 400 million euros.
Macron lamented the growing number of civilian casualties as a result of Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon and the capital Beirut.
Lebanon’s interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in Paris that Israel’s attacks threatened the country’s survival and caused massive damage to its infrastructure and economy, in addition to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.
“We need an immediate ceasefire,” he said.
