World powers have raised $1 billion to ease the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and support its army at a conference.
This follows Lebanon’s prime minister's call for international help to strengthen its army and rebuild the country.
This follows Lebanon’s prime minister's call for international help to strengthen its army and rebuild the country.
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00:00One billion dollars pledged at this summit. The closing news conference held a short time ago with the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrault, saying that that one billion dollars has been split roughly between humanitarian aid and support for Lebanon's security forces.
00:18Eight hundred million dollars or so for humanitarian support and two hundred million dollars for Lebanon's security forces.
00:26We did have this morning Emmanuel Macron starting proceedings by saying that France itself was going to be pledging one hundred million dollars in support for the Lebanese people.
00:35And here representing Lebanon was the prime minister. He was here for talks with Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday and then attended the summits earlier today.
00:44Najib Mikati and we can listen in now to a little bit more of what he had to say.
00:50The devastating impact of this war on our nation cannot be overstated, and it has left a trail of destruction and misery in its wake.
01:01The Israelis aggression has not only caused immense human suffering and loss of life, but also inflected severe damage to the country's infrastructure, economy and social fabric.
01:19We heard from the Lebanese prime minister there. We heard from Emmanuel Macron a bit earlier as well.
01:24And his pledge of one hundred million dollars was followed by Germany. They also said that they were going to give more than one hundred million dollars.
01:30Let's listen now to a little bit more of what the French president had to say.
01:36The war must end as soon as possible. There must be a ceasefire in Lebanon. More damage, more victims, more strikes will neither put an end to terrorism nor ensure the security of all.
01:52So you heard from the Lebanese prime minister, from the French president.
01:57There were many different actors and international organizations here. And despite those pledges of support, those big commitments to be supporting Lebanon, there were also calls for a ceasefire.
02:08And it does appear that there is no immediate end in sight to Israel's bombing campaign against Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon.