France set to host international conference on Lebanon

By Nur Asena Erturk

France will host an international conference on Thursday to support Lebanon, to raise funds, and to ensure humanitarian aid amid Israeli attacks.

The event will gather representatives from 70 countries and 15 international organizations, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Wednesday.

The conference that President Emmanuel Macron will launch also aims to raise €370 million ($400 million) for displaced people in Lebanon due to the Israeli attacks.

France has expressed support for Lebanon following Israel’s attacks over the recent weeks.

Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu feared an “imminent civil war” in Lebanon amid a risk of a regional spillover, and Minister Barrot called for a cease-fire in the region.

Earlier this month, Macron called for halting arms shipments to Israel over its operations in Gaza and claimed that France was not sending weapons to Israel for use in Gaza.

Barrot also repeatedly called for halting arms exports to the belligerents in the region, and said it was not coherent to “call for a cease-fire while arming the belligerents.”

Macron also reportedly told a Cabinet meeting that “Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a UN decision,” a remark that drew criticism from the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A row sparked between Macron and Netanyahu following Israel's recent attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Several peacekeepers have been injured.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last year.

More than 42,700 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 100,300 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of Gaza amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

Last month, Israel stepped up its attacks on neighboring Lebanon, despite warnings that doing so raises the risk of a larger regional war.