A man and a Lebanese soldier stand side by side and watch an excavator move the rubble in Zawtar Gharbieh, in South Lebanon, on July 28, 2026. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
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European Commission announced Wednesday that it would provide Lebanon with 505 million euros in financial support for 2026 and 2027. This is the second half of the one-billion-euro financial aid announced by President Ursula von der Leyen during her visit to Beirut in May 2024.
The new funding will cover three main areas: strengthening economic recovery, security, and border management; maintaining essential services for the most vulnerable; and addressing the consequences of instability, conflict and displacement in the region. The support is also intended to help Lebanon advance key reforms that have been awaited for years.
The 505 million euros tranche will fund essential services in Lebanon, including education, health, social protection and access to water, while supporting vulnerable populations and Syrian refugees. It will also support institutional reforms, human rights, security, border management, and economic recovery. Finally, the aid will strengthen civil society, the rights of women, youth, minorities and people with disabilities, as well as democratic participation, transparency, the fight against corruption, social cohesion and the protection of cultural heritage.
Why it matters:
The EU wants to strengthen its partners along its periphery, in particular to limit the risks of illegal migration to Europe. In May 2024, Ursula von der Leyen called on Beirut to cooperate in combating irregular migration to Europe from the Lebanese coast. Efforts appear to have paid off, given the low number of attempted crossings from the Lebanese coast over the summer.
Struggling under a financial crisis and the wars between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon also needs substantial funding to revive its economy and state institutions, including the armed forces. At the beginning of September, the EU announced plans to launch a training mission for the Lebanese Army in the coming months.
The army, which has been short on resources and whose personnel have been underpaid since the local currency devaluation in 2019, is notably tasked with disarming Hezbollah and all armed militias.
What to watch:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, internationally isolated and in the midst of a difficult re-election campaign, is set to deliver his speech this afternoon before the U.N. General Assembly. According to Israeli media, he is expected to return immediately to Israel afterward, without meeting with the U.S. president as he had hoped.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be at the center of this third day of debates at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will also speak. He will address the assembly by videoconference, having failed to obtain a U.S. visa, as was the case last year.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who is attending the U.N. General Assembly, is scheduled to give his speech on Friday. On Wednesday, he met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the event, insisting on a revision of Lebanese-Syrian cooperation agreements. The Syrian president, for his part, acknowledged that "the legacy is difficult" between Syria and Lebanon, stating that "Syria is trying to establish new relations based on the economy and good political ties, which in the future will have an influence on the security situation."
In other news:
- An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, warned of an expansion of the war "to the Indian Ocean" if the United States attacks Iran again. The strategic U.S.-British military base of Diego Garcia is located in the Indian Ocean.
- In southern Lebanon, the Israeli air force carried out several airstrikes in Bani Hayan and Wad Slouqi valley (a natural boundary between the districts of Marjayoun and Bint Jbeil). In Mayfadoun, in Nabatieh, a solar panel installation was set on fire after a bombing. Despite ongoing attacks, Lebanon's General Security reopened its center in Shebaa, following a similar measure in Nabatieh, apparently as part of efforts by authorities to strengthen their presence in the South.
- Also in the South, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, stated that his country wanted "direct ties with the Lebanese Army to ensure stability" in the area, estimating that any extension of UNIFIL’s mandate — which ends in December — would mean Hezbollah could "continue to operate" in the South as well.
- An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 struck Thursday morning in Pinarbasi in southeastern Turkey, and was felt in several neighboring provinces, but caused no damage or casualties.
