French President Emmanuel Macron holds a press conference at the conclusion of the 19th Francophonie Summit's closing session at the Grand Palais in Paris on Oct. 5, 2024. (Credit: Ludovic Marin/AFP)
The international conference dedicated to Lebanon, initiated by Emmanuel Macron, will be held on Oct. 24 to mobilize the international community to aid the population and support the country's institutions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Wednesday.
"This ministerial conference will bring together Lebanon's partner states, the United Nations, the European Union, and international, regional, and civil society organizations," it said in a statement.
On Saturday, the French president announced the holding of this conference without specifying the date. It "will aim to mobilize the international community to meet the emergency protection and relief needs of the population of Lebanon and to identify ways to support Lebanon's institutions, particularly the Lebanese Armed Forces, guarantors of the country's internal stability," the ministry also indicated on Wednesday.
Israel is now waging an open war in Lebanon against Hezbollah, with a stated objective to distance Hezbollah from border areas where it is established and to stop its rocket fire towards northern Israel to allow the return of some 60,000 of its displaced inhabitants to that region.
In Lebanon, more than a million people have been displaced by the violence. "Facing a serious and deep political and humanitarian crisis, France will recall through this conference the urgency of a cessation of hostilities and a diplomatic solution based on U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, allowing the safe return of displaced people to Israel as well as Lebanon to their homes," stressed the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It added that the election of a president in Lebanon is "the first step towards restarting political institutions."
According to official Lebanese figures, the violence has resulted in 2,000 deaths since Sept. 23, more than a thousand of which since October with the beginning of Israeli strikes on the south and east of its territory, as well as on the southern suburbs of Beirut.
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