An international conference in Paris has mobilized 800 million euros in immediate humanitarian aid for Lebanon, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Thursday, while another 200 million euros were pledged to strengthen the country’s armed forces.
The conference in the French capital brought together approximately 70 countries and international organizations.
France, the former mandate power in Lebanon, contributed 100 million euros to the total, while Germany provided 96 million euros.
“The war must end as soon as possible, we need a ceasefire in Lebanon,” French President Emmanuel Macron said at the meeting.
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.
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.
Israeli attacks in Lebanon kill soldiers and civilians
A total of 12 people were killed in airstrikes in two areas of eastern Lebanon on Thursday, the country’s health ministry said, as the country’s Iran-linked Hezbollah movement and Israel are locked in a firefight.
The first attack killed seven people, including three children, and wounded 10 in the town of Al Khudr in Baalbek-Hermel governorate, the ministry said.
Five others were killed and two were injured in an Israeli attack in the town of Helaniya, also in Baalbek-Hermel, the ministry added in a statement.
Three Lebanese soldiers have been killed in Israeli attacks in the south, the Lebanese army said.
Israel targeted Lebanese army personnel on the outskirts of the southern city of Yater as they evacuated injured people, the army said.
The official Lebanese news agency NNA reported that an Israeli attack hit a house in Yater, followed by another attack as rescue teams responded, wounding some medics.
Five Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday that five Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in southern Lebanon on Wednesday.
Four of the men were reservists aged 22 to 42. Another six soldiers were seriously injured in the fighting and taken to hospitals in Israel, the IDF said. Separately, the 23-year-old leader of a dog unit was killed.
Israeli media reported that the reservists were surprised by Hezbollah militiamen who emerged from a shaft and threw hand grenades at them as they entered a village.
Media reports bring the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the ground offensive in southern Lebanon began three weeks ago to 22.
According to IDF figures, a total of 757 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the fighting since the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, massacring around 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. On October 8, Hezbollah began shooting at Israel in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. Israel has responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive.
The IDF reported that Hezbollah fired about 50 rockets into the Galilee region of northern Israel on Thursday morning. It said some missiles were intercepted, while others hit the ground.
Hezbollah said it had attacked additional targets in Israel, including areas north of Haifa. It also claimed to have fired rockets at a gathering of Israeli forces in Manara, in the border area.
Syrian soldier killed, seven injured in Israeli strikes
One soldier was killed and seven were injured in Israeli attacks on several locations in Syria, the official news agency SANA reported on Thursday.
Israeli dawn attacks targeted two locations in Damascus’s Kafr Sousa neighborhood and one of the military posts in Homs, a military source said in a statement to SANA.
Israel has bombed targets in Syria to prevent Iran and its allied militias from expanding their military influence in the war-torn country. Israeli attacks on Syria have increased since the start of the Gaza war on October 7.
German NGO says Gaza resembles ‘apocalypse’
The German aid organization Welthungerhilfe (German Agro-Action) said in a statement on Thursday that the situation in the Gaza Strip resembles an “apocalypse” after more than a year of war.
“Our experienced colleagues … have never seen such enormous destruction and desperation among people in any other crisis area in the world,” said Mathias Mogge, president of the organization.
“It’s an apocalyptic situation.”
People live in tent camps among completely destroyed buildings, and Israeli airstrikes, gunfire and drones constantly circulate above them.
The organization reiterated its condemnation of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. The Hamas-controlled health authority estimates the death toll in Gaza at more than 42,000 people. It does not distinguish between Hamas fighters and civilians in its count.
