![German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a Ministerial Conference in Berlin, Germany on November 2, 2023 [Halil Sağırkaya/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AA-20231102-32613942-32613933-MINISTERIAL_CONFERENCE_ON_EU_ENLARGEMENT-e1704793665122.jpg?fit=1110%2C740&ssl=1)
Germany will provide a further €96 million ($103.57 million) in humanitarian and development aid to Lebanon, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said today ahead of a meeting of some 70 delegations in Paris focused on helping the country.
“We are making it clear that we not only see the suffering in Lebanon these days, we are taking action; we are supporting the people on the ground who, for the most part, want only one thing: to live in safety and peace in the future, just like so many people in Israel,” added Baerbock.
France is hoping that the meeting will raise about €500 million ($540 million) in humanitarian aid, according to a French Foreign Ministry framework document for the conference.
Seventy delegations and 15 international organisations are represented at the conference, however few major ministers are attending.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati and key ministers involved in relief efforts are in attendance, but neither Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the initiative, nor Iran were invited.
READ: Lebanon needs help to expand army and rebuild, PM says