Lebanese Army Commander Rodolph Haykal, upon his arrival for a meeting with CENTCOM in Florida, on Feb. 2, 2026. (Credit: USMARCENT/X)
The European Union plans to contribute $100 million to the international conference supporting the Lebanese Army, scheduled for March 5 in Paris. L'Orient-Le Jour learned this on the sidelines of the meeting held in Cairo on Tuesday to prepare for the Paris gathering.
According to our information, this contribution is expected to be used primarily to purchase logistical equipment, as was the case at previous support conferences.
A diplomatic source informed us that Jean-Yves Le Drian, the personal envoy of French President Emmanuel Macron, attended in Cairo. He was accompanied by Major General Valentin Seiler, who serves as France's representative on the cease-fire monitoring "mechanism." Le Drian is also expected in Beirut after the March 5 conference.
According to the same source, the recent tension between Paris and Washington should not affect Franco-American efforts in favor of Lebanon and its army. The United States was represented in Cairo by diplomats from their embassy in Beirut.
The Saudi envoy, Yazid bin Farhan, led his country's delegation. In Western diplomatic circles, his participation in the Cairo meeting is seen positively.
"His presence should be interpreted as a good sign, especially since the Saudis are mobilized to help the army, which has the full confidence of the international community," a Western diplomat who requested anonymity said.
Cairo's support for Lebanese sovereignty
On the sidelines of the meeting, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty took advantage of his meeting with Le Drian to reiterate Cairo's support for efforts to strengthen Lebanon's sovereignty and unity, as well as its institutions, starting with the Lebanese Army, to enable it to accomplish its missions, according to information obtained by our publication.
The Egyptian minister also emphasized the importance of forcing Israel to "immediately stop its aggression," to withdraw from Lebanon, and to fully comply with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006).
The meeting "aims to help Lebanese national institutions, especially the army and the Internal Security Forces (ISF), to strengthen their sovereignty and extend their full control" over the territory, the Egyptian foreign minister stressed.
France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and the United States (the Quintet) participated in the meeting, which was attended by the commander in chief of the Lebanese Army, General Rodolph Haykal.
That morning, he had outlined the military institution's needs as part of a plan developed in coordination with Quintet members.
The following session was dedicated to a detailed presentation by the director general of the ISF, General Raed Abdallah, on the ISF's need to continue its missions on Lebanese territory.
Haykal will return to Lebanon on Thursday. It is very likely that he will meet on Wednesday with the head of Egyptian intelligence, General Hassan Rachad, who had recently visited Lebanon, according to reliable sources.
During his visit to Washington in early February, Haykal secured the continuation of the Lebanese Army support program, which is expected to replace UNIFIL in southern Lebanon at the end of 2026.
The Lebanese Army is at the center of attention, both domestically and internationally, due to the role it is expected to play in the disarmament of militias, especially Hezbollah, which was significantly weakened after its most recent conflict with Israel in 2023-2024, and in restoring the state's monopoly on arms.
This mission is the subject of two Lebanese government decisions dating from August 2025. According to its reports, the army has already taken operational control of the area south of the Litani River, except for positions still occupied by Israel along the border.
Asked about the March 5 conference, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told L'Orient-Le Jour in early February that "the final objective is to ensure the successful implementation of the second phase of disarmament, but more generally, security across the entire Lebanese territory."
Last week, in a Cabinet meeting, Haykal set a timetable of four to eight months to disarm Hezbollah in the area between the Litani and Awali rivers, which constitutes the second phase of a five-step plan.
However, the group refuses to hand over its weapons north of the Litani and maintains that disarmament concerns only the area south of the river.
