Sawt Falasteen - Macron announces aid conference to rebuild Lebanon

After a vacancy of more than two years, Joseph Aoun was elected president on January 9 and named Nawaf Salam as prime minister-designate.

"In the middle of winter, spring has sprung," Macron said at a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart.

"You are this hope," he said, referring to Aoun and Salam.

The new prime minister faces the monumental task of forming a government to oversee reconstruction after the Israel-Hezbollah conflict ended in November, and implement reforms demanded by international creditors in return for a desperately needed financial bailout.

"As soon as the president (Aoun) comes to Paris in a few weeks' time, we will organise around him an international reconstruction conference to drum up funding," Macron said.

"The international community must prepare for massive support to the reconstruction of infrastructure."

Analysts say Hezbollah's weakening in the war last year allowed Lebanon's deeply divided parliament to elect Aoun and back his naming of Salam as premier.

The overthrow of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad by Islamist-led rebels on December 8 has also contributed to the dawn of a new era for its tiny neighbour.

- 'Long-lasting' ceasefire -

France administered Lebanon for two decades after World War I, and the two countries have maintained close relations.

Earlier in the day, Macron strolled through the Gemmayzeh neighbourhood, near the port of Beirut, posing for photographs and selfies with eager members of the public, and downing small cups of coffee offered to him along the way.

He had been the first foreign leader to visit the neighbourhood after it was devastated by a massive explosion at the port on August 4, 2020.

Four years later, Lebanese pushed through the crowd to speak to him.

"Please help us to form a new government able to bring my daughter back to Lebanon," one woman said, explaining her child had moved to France to study after being wounded in the huge blast.

An elderly lady called the French president "adorable".

"Lebanon is dear to my heart," Macron replied.

Families of the more than 22 people killed in the explosion are hopeful after a long-stalled inquiry into the disaster resumed on Thursday.

Macron said he would later meet UN chief Antonio Guterres, as a January 26 deadline to fully implement the Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire approaches.

With just over a week to go, he called for accelerated implementation of the truce.

"There have been results... but they must be accelerated and long-lasting. There needs to be complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the Lebanese army must hold a total monopoly of any weapons" in south Lebanon, he said.

Under the terms of the deal, the Lebanese army is to deploy alongside UN peacekeepers in the south as the Israeli army withdraws.

At the same time, Hezbollah is required to dismantle any remaining military infrastructure it has in the south and pull its forces back north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border.

- 'Continued occupation' -

Speaking to UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon, Guterres urged an end to Israel's "continued occupation" and "military operations" in south Lebanon.

He also said that UN peacekeepers "uncovered over 100 weapons caches belonging to Hezbollah or other armed groups since the November 27 ceasefire.

He added that the "presence of armed personnel, assets and weapons" other than those of the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers violated the terms of the UN Security Council resolution that formed the basis for the deal.

Salam, a former presiding judge at the International Court of Justice, has been holding delicate consultations to pick a government, with Hezbollah continuing to play an important role in Lebanese politics despite its weakening on the battlefield.

Hezbollah is the only group in Lebanon that did not surrender its weapons to the state following the 1975-1990 civil war.

Backed by Syria under Assad, it has played a key role in politics for decades, flexing its power in government institutions while engaging in fighting with the Israeli military.

The UN Security Council called Thursday for Lebanese leaders to rapidly form a new government, describing it as a "critical" step for stability in the war-battered region.

L.Hussein--SF-PST