Lebanon: from Beirut, the Minister of Foreign Affairs announces the delivery of emergency medical aid

2024-09-29 21:45:26

The head of French diplomacy, Jean-Noël Barrot, lived in Lebanon this Sunday evening, while Israeli attacks continued, especially in the southern areas of Beirut. Upon his arrival, he announced that France had sent 12 tons of medical equipment to Lebanon, a gift which he said would enable the treatment of “a thousand seriously injured”.

I arrived this evening in Beirut where the French are working to protect the citizens.

These are 12 tons of medical equipment transported by the@EtatMajorFR which I handed over to our Lebanese colleagues. They will treat 1000 seriously injured people.

We will always stand by the civilian. pic.twitter.com/KhGAJ9fez7

– Jean-Noël Barrot (@jnbarrot) September 29, 2024

The Minister of Foreign Affairs plans to “exchange with local authorities and provide French support, especially humanitarian”, according to his colleagues. He will hold several meetings on Monday with Lebanese and UN officials.

When the minister arrived, the Quai d’Orsay announced that a second French citizen had died in Lebanon, a country under fire from large bombs by Israel, in unspecified circumstances. On Thursday, the ministry announced that 87 women died in a “strong explosion” in the south of the country.

On Thursday in New York, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Jean-Noël Barrot met the Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib. He had promised them to go to Lebanon.

Exchange with Prime Ministers @Najib_Mikati and my colleague Abdallah Bou Habib.

We can also avoid war.
I will travel to Lebanon to continue our discussions.

I repeat: no civilian casualties are acceptable. On both sides of the border. pic.twitter.com/TSEQSezN18

– Jean-Noël Barrot (@jnbarrot) September 26, 2024

The Minister will meet in turn, on Monday, the Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, the Prime Minister, the Commander-in-Chief of the Lebanese Army, the President of the Parliament and will have lunch with the Special Representative of the United Nations for Lebanon and the United Nations Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). A time with the French community of Beirut is also planned at the end of the day.

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France demanded on Saturday, the day of the announcement of the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who was the victim of an Israeli attack, “an immediate halt to the Israeli attacks in Lebanon”, showing that it is “opposed to any land occupation” in the country the. . The minister’s message to Najib Mikati, Prime Minister of Lebanon, during a telephone conversation.

On Saturday, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier described the situation as “extremely serious” and said he was “concerned about the security” of the French people there. It is estimated that more than 23,000 French people live in Lebanon, with 21,500 French people and right holders registered on consular lists. For the time being, there is no call to leave the country for French citizens, unlike those from the Philippines or Thailand.