War in the Middle East: “Lebanon is in mortal danger”, three Lebanese soldiers killed this Thursday in an Israeli strike

Jean-Yves Le Drian, represented Emmanuel Macron's sentiment for Lebanon says the “country is living in enormous tension, Lebanon is in danger of “dead”, he warned on LCI.

The essential

• Guest on the LCI set on Wednesday evening, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emmanuel Macron's representative for Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian called on the Israeli army to stop attacks targeting civilians in Lebanon:  “We must stop these actions against the Lebanese population. We understand that there are targets linked to Hezbollah, but we also see that there is considerable collateral damage and a population in disarray. Because if this continues, it is Lebanon itself that is in danger. I have said several times that Lebanon is in mortal danger.”
• At the Paris press conference on Lebanon at the initiative of Emmanuel Macron, the French president called on Thursday for “massive aid that must be provided to the Lebanese population”, “immediately, whether it is the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the war or the communities that host them”, he said. While the UN has launched an appeal to raise 426 million euros, France has already confirmed to provide 100 million euros this Thursday.
• This Thursday, the Lebanese army claims that three of its soldiers including an officer died, killed by Israeli strikes in the south of Lebanon, near the border with Israel. “The Israeli enemy targeted members of the Lebanese army in the vicinity of the village of Yater, Bint Jbeil (south), while they were carrying out an operation to evacuate the wounded,” the Lebanese army said in a statement.
• The Israeli army continued its bombardments in the south of Beirut, in the town of Tyre, on Wednesday. A residential complex was targeted. According to an Israeli security source, the IDF is prepared for “months” of fighting in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Latest updates

Goal achieved. The international conference in Paris on Lebanon raised more than $800 million in humanitarian aid as well as $200 million in aid for the army, said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Thursday. “We responded to the appeal launched by the United Nations by announcing substantial contributions, $800 million to which are added significant contributions in kind,” he said. Initially, the UN had launched an appeal to raise 426 million dollars. France contributed 100 million euros, Germany pledged 96 million euros.

15:25 – Hezbollah announces attack on Israel with “machine gun and rocket fire” this Thursday

This Thursday, Hezbollah announced that it had attacked IDF units advancing between the towns of Adaïssé, Rab, el-Thalathine and Taybé with "machine gun and rocket fire". The Islamist movement also indicated that it was confronting "at point-blank range" the Israeli army  & … destroyed while trying to intervene in Lebanon.

14:33 – Towards a truce in Gaza “in the coming days” ?

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that he expected negotiators to meet in the coming days with the goal of reaching a truce in the Gaza Strip. “We discussed options… and next steps to move the process forward, and I expect that our negotiators meet in the coming days,” he explained during a press conference where hope seemed to reappear, after a meeting with the Prime Minister of Qatar, one of the mediating countries in the war.

11:13 – Emmanuel Macron confirms France's support for the Lebanese army

As soon as a ceasefire has been negotiated, with a redeployment of 8,000 additional soldiers to Lebanon, “France will support this deployment through UNIFIL and by contributing to the equipment of the army. It will have to be sufficiently robust, verifiable and operational so that everyone, in Lebanon, in Israel, at the United Nations, is convinced that the Lebanese State will effectively exercise its authority in the long term.” “across the entire territory,” assured the French president on Thursday. “There is no reason why they should be the target of any attacks whatsoever,” regretted Emmanuel Macron.

11:01 – Emmanuel Macron calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon

“The 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,” Emmanuel Macron said at the Paris press conference on Lebanon. “War must not allow the forces of chaos to prevail in Lebanon or anywhere else in the region. Therefore, we must cease fire and define without delay the measures that must be taken to re-establish lasting calm along the blue line and allow displaced populations in Lebanon and Israel to return to their homes in complete safety,” he also indicated on Thursday, October 24.

10:30 – “France will provide 100 million euros” in aid, announces Emmanuel Macron

At the Paris press conference on Lebanon at the initiative of Emmanuel Macron, the French president called for “massive aid that must be provided to the Lebanese population”, “immediately, whether it is the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the war or the communities that host them”, he said. While the UN has launched an appeal to raise 426 million euros, France has already confirmed that it will provide 100 million euros this Thursday. “What is needed is simply to shelter families, feed children, care for the injured, and continue to ensure the education of students,” concluded the head of state.

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42,718. This is the number of deaths in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas terrorist offensive on October 7, 2023 in Israel. A figure communicated by the Ministry of Health of the Hamas government, on Monday, October 14, 2024, which reveals the intensity of the fighting that has now lasted for more than a year. Over the months, tensions have intensified, and as of October 27, 2023, Israel extended its ground operation to Gaza. The goal for Netanyahu and the IDF is clear: to “annihilate” Hamas. A week-long ceasefire was nevertheless in place in November 2023. After a major leap forward, on April 13, 2024, Iran launches its first massive attack on Israel. Allied to Hamas, Iran then fires nearly 350 explosive drones and missiles on the Hebrew state. An attack in response to missiles fired at the embassy in Damascus in Syria on April 1, in which 11 people lost their lives, including seven Islamic Revolutionary Guards.

On Tuesday, September 17, 2024, a new type of attack broke into the war. Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies exploded. Twelve dead and nearly 3,000 injured were reported in Lebanon. Since its coordinated explosions, Israel has continued to strike Lebanon with air and ground raids. More than 1,000 people were killed in IDF strikes and thousands of Lebanese were forced to be displaced. On October 1, 2024, Iran responded by sending nearly 200 ballistic missiles directly to Israel. Since then, the two countries have been engaged in a merciless war, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatening on October 8, 2024 that Lebanon would experience “destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza” if the country's population did not “free itself” from Hezbollah. Remarks described as “provocation” by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot.

On Monday, October 14, 2024, the Lebanese Hezbollah threatened Israel with new attacks in a press release. As a reminder, Hezbollah had struck Haifa two days earlier, killing four Israeli soldiers and injuring no fewer than 60. At the beginning of the week, the terrorist organization indicated that “the resistance (…) promises the enemy”. The raid carried out “south of Haifa is only a foretaste of what awaits it if it decides to continue its aggression against our people”, it threatens. According to Palestinian doctors quoted by the Associated Press, the courtyard of a hospital in the Gaza Strip was then shelled by the Israeli army, killing at least four people and setting fire to a camp for displaced people.