French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday his country would support Lebanon with 100 million euros, as Paris hosted an aid conference with big financial aims but slim diplomatic prospects.
Macron opened the conference following a one-on-one meeting Wednesday with Mikati.
Hezbollah must "stop its provocations and indiscriminate strikes" against Israel, Macron said. But Israel "knows from experience that its military successes do not necessarily represent victory in Lebanon," Macron said.
Israel has eliminated several Hezbollah leaders over recent weeks. "I'm not sure that you can defend a civilization by sowing barbarism yourself," he added.
"The war must end as soon as possible, there must be a ceasefire in Lebanon," Macron said sitting alongside the country's Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
The Lebanese government chief in turn called on "the international community to hold together and support efforts to implement an immediate ceasefire".
France has set a target of raising half a billion euros ($540 million) in aid for Lebanon, 100 million more than an initial UN appeal. Paris is also seeking an increase in humanitarian aid for a country to which it has historic ties and which has a large diaspora in France.
As well as its financial contribution, Macron said Paris would "contribute to equipping the Lebanese army" to re-establish control of the country's south in line with UN Security Council resolution 1701, which sealed the end of the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.
"Resolution 1701 remains the cornerstone of stability and security in southern Lebanon," Mikati said, echoing France's view.
As well as stipulating that the only armed forces on Lebanon's border with Israel should be UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army, 1701 says no foreign forces should enter Lebanon without the government's consent.
Hopes for diplomatic progress in Paris may be stymied by the absence of Iran and Israel, who were not among the 70 countries and 15 international organizations invited. Furthermore, the US was represented only by a deputy to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Germany and Canada have sent their foreign ministers, Annalena Baerbock and Melanie Joly.
Germany said Thursday that it would contribute 96 million euros to the humanitarian aid appeal.
Speaking remotely, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on participants to "strengthen their support to (Lebanon's) state institutions, including the Lebanese armed forces".
Host France is pushing for progress on three fronts: diplomacy, humanitarian aid and Lebanon's domestic politics.
France has pushed alongside the United States for a temporary 21-day ceasefire to give space to negotiate a more lasting truce.
"Anything that does not bring about an immediate end to the destruction and killing would make this summit a failure," said Bachir Ayoub, aid group Oxfam's Lebanon chief.
Nevertheless, in Lebanon, "the needs are so vast that even if the aid totaled hundreds of millions of dollars, you could cynically see it as a sort of palliative care", stated Karim Bitar, an international relations expert at Beirut's Saint-Joseph University, ahead of the talks.
With AFP
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