Emmanuel Macron promised to provide aid of 100 million euros to support the Lebanese population victims of Israeli strikes, in addition to once again calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East. Support which calls into question the actions of Israel.
“It is massive aid that must be provided to the Lebanese population,” assured Emmanuel Macron during the conference in support of Lebanon organized in Paris, at his initiative, this Thursday, October 24. France has matched actions with words, since not only calling for international mobilization, the Head of State announced the release of 100 million euros to finance humanitarian aid to be provided to Lebanese civilians affected by Israeli strikes. A colossal financial aid which represents almost a quarter of the 426 million that the UN seeks to raise to support Lebanon.
The aid promised by France should make it possible to “shelter families, feed children, care for the injured” and “ensure the education of students,” said Emmanuel Macron. It will also have to serve the “hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the war” as much as the “communities which welcome them”. By emphasizing the difficulties encountered by the Lebanese population, the Head of State indirectly denounces the consequences of the violent and numerous strikes carried out by the Hebrew State, to which he has always assured his support and the legitimacy of its right to defend itself. . But this support is not unconditional and Emmanuel Macron has been calling for a ceasefire for several months. A call renewed this Thursday: “More damage, more victims, more strikes will neither put an end to terrorism nor ensure the security of all”, declared the President of the Republic in reference to the attacks of all parties to the conflict, including the Jewish state.
Macron points more towards Hezbollah than Israel
But Emmanuel Macron did not go further on Israel’s actions against Lebanon since the start of the open war between the Hebrew state and Lebanese Hezbollah. The head of state did not condemn the Israeli strikes, nor added to the recent differences between him and Benjamin Netanyahu, particularly after the Israeli attacks targeting UN forces. The head of state focused on the actions of another group in this conflict: Hezbollah, which he considers responsible for Lebanon’s entry into the war in the Middle East when “the superior interests of Lebanon demanded that he stay away from the war between Israel and Gaza.
The head of state also expressed his opposition to the pro-Iranian Lebanese Shiite party, whose armed wing was involved in the conflict, by setting the objective of “affirming the sovereignty of Lebanon”. Hezbollah, although represented in the Lebanese government, is not at its head and is behind most of the strikes against Israel. Attacks to which Israel responds, when it does not initiate others. In this way, Emmanuel Macron says he wants to “allow the Lebanese to regain control of their destiny”.
A sovereignty of Lebanon and its government that France wants to help guarantee. Pleading for a ceasefire, Emmanuel Macron indicated that once a truce has been negotiated, France will participate in a redeployment of 8,000 additional soldiers to Lebanon via UNIFIL, the United Nations interim force in Lebanon . This military reinforcement must be “robust, verifiable and operational enough so that everyone, in Lebanon, in Israel, at the United Nations, is convinced that the Lebanese State will effectively exercise its authority over the entire territory in the long term”, assured the French president. “Nothing justifies that it could be the subject of any attacks whatsoever,” also regretted Emmanuel Macron.
“The war must end as quickly as possible” continued the Head of State in a more general observation on the situation in the Middle East. “War must not allow the forces of chaos to prevail either in Lebanon or anywhere in the region. Therefore, we must cease fire and define without delay the measures that must be taken to restore lasting calm along the blue line and allow displaced populations in Lebanon and Israel to return to their homes in complete safety,” he finally added in conclusion of his speech.