MEZIESBLOG

World leaders are meeting in Paris today for a conference on Lebanon, increasing tensions between France and Israel.

The ongoing conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group has displaced more than a million people across Lebanon, killed more than 2,500 and deepened the country’s economic crisis.

France’s foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot says the conference will have three goals.

They include promoting a diplomatic solution to the conflict, mobilising humanitarian aid and supporting the Lebanese armed forces.

Opening the conference, Emmanuel Macron says France will provide a €100m (£83m) aid package to support Lebanon.

Seventy delegations and 15 international organisations are being represented at the summit, though Israel has not been invited.

Relations between Paris and Jerusalem have been strained of late, with Emmanuel Macron angering Benjamin Netanyahu over his calls to halt weapons shipments.

The Israeli prime minister was also said to be disappointed by France’s decision to host the Lebanon conference.

What’s going on in the Middle East in five bullet points

• Israel is continuing its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, in an attempt to root out Iran-backed militants belonging to Hamas and Hezbollah;
• Its air campaigns in Beirut continued in the last 24 hours, with Lebanese media reporting at least 17 strikes on the capital last night in one of the “most violent” attacks in the city since the conflict began (see 06.39 post);
• In Gaza, Israel’s military is continuing its offensive in the northern Jabalia city, where a large refugee camp is located. Thousands of Palestinians are being evacuated from the area, though many fear this will enable Israeli control over northern Gaza after the war;
• Elsewhere in the enclave, the Israeli military has named six Palestinian Al Jazeera reporters that it says are also members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups. The network has rejected the claims (see 07.15 post);
• Israel has still not yet launched an attack on Iran, which it vowed to carry out after Iran sent a missile barrage at the country on 1 October, which was mostly intercepted. Yesterday, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said Israel’s planned airstrikes on Iran will make the world understand the might of its military.