PARIS– An international conference for Lebanon on Thursday in Paris raised $1 billion in humanitarian aid and military support to help the country where the war between Hezbollah militants and Israel has displaced a million people, killed more than 2 500 people and worsened an economic crisis, French organizers said. .

In his closing speech, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said: “We have collectively collected $800 million in humanitarian aid and $200 million for security forces, or around $1 billion. » The Paris conference brought together more than 70 nations and international organizations.

French President Emmanuel Macron had called on participants to provide “massive aid” to support the country, with France having pledged $100 million.

“We are up to the challenge,” Barrot said. The United States has pledged about $300 million, he added.

Germany has pledged a total of 96 million euros in humanitarian aid to Lebanon and neighboring Syria, also deeply affected by escalating violence in the Middle East. Italy this week announced additional aid of 10 million euros ($10.8 million) to Lebanon.

The United Nations previously estimated urgent humanitarian needs in Lebanon at $426 million.

However, experts warn that aid delivery could prove difficult, as Lebanon’s growing reliance on the informal and cash economy increases the lack of transparency and risks of corruption.

The Paris conference also aimed to coordinate international support to strengthen Lebanon’s armed forces so they can deploy to the country’s south as part of a possible deal to end the war. Such a deal could lead Hezbollah to withdraw its forces from the border.

This support for the Lebanese army includes “aid in terms of health care, fuel, small equipment, but also support for the project of recruiting at least 6,000 additional soldiers and allowing the deployment of at least 8,000 additional soldiers in the south,” Macron said.

Paris also seeks to help restore Lebanon’s sovereignty and strengthen its institutions. The country, where Hezbollah effectively operates as a state within a state, has been without a president for two years as political factions fail to agree on a new president.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called in a pre-recorded video on Lebanese leaders “to take decisive action to ensure the proper functioning of state institutions to address the country’s pressing political and security challenges.”

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged the international community to act.

“The devastating impact of this war on our nation cannot be underestimated, and it has left a trail of destruction and misery in its wake. “Israeli aggression has not only caused immense human suffering and loss of life, but has also inflicted serious damage on the country’s infrastructure, economy and social fabric,” Mikati said in Paris on Thursday.

In Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike killed three Lebanese soldiers, including an officer, on Thursday morning while they were evacuating wounded in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese army said Israeli forces had targeted it eight times since all-out war broke out between Israel and Hezbollah in September.

The Israeli military apologized Sunday for a strike that it said mistakenly killed three soldiers, and said Wednesday it was investigating whether “a number of Lebanese army soldiers were accidentally injured” after having targeted what it claims to be Hezbollah infrastructure.

Over the past month, Israel has launched a major aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah, with strikes hitting the capital, Beirut, and elsewhere.

The International Organization for Migration said around 800,000 people are displaced, many now in overcrowded shelters, while others have crossed the border into Syria. Mikati estimated Thursday that the number of displaced people was more than 1.4 million, including 500,000 children.

Lebanon’s cash-strapped government is ill-prepared to deal with the crisis or the increased demands placed on its health system. Several of them were evacuated due to nearby airstrikes and fear of being targeted.

The Lebanese army has been hit hard by five years of economic crisis. It has an aging arsenal and no air defense, leaving it unable to defend against Israeli incursions or confront Hezbollah.

The Lebanese army has around 80,000 soldiers, with around 5,000 deployed in the south. Hezbollah has more than 100,000 fighters, according to the militant group’s late leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The militant group’s arsenal, built with Iranian support, is more advanced.

Conference participants discussed how to support the 10,500-strong UN peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL. European countries, including France, Italy and Spain, provide a third of its troops.

Italy, which has more than 1,000 troops in UNIFIL, is pushing for the peacekeeping force to be strengthened to “be able to face the new situation” on the ground, an Italian diplomat said , speaking anonymously to discuss the ongoing talks.

Guterres said Thursday that “attacks on UN peacekeepers are completely unacceptable and contrary to international law, international humanitarian law and may constitute a war crime.”

France’s historic ties to Lebanon, a former colony, and its influential diplomacy give Paris the impetus to coordinate “an appropriate response to the massive challenge that the war in Lebanon now poses,” said Rym Montaz, an expert on Middle East and Carnegie Editor. The European blog Europe Stratégique.

“What we know is that without strengthened Lebanese armed forces and without UNIFIL, there cannot be lasting peace and stability on the border between Lebanon and Israel,” Montaz said. “As such, French efforts are important and crucial moving forward. »

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AP writers Geir Moulson in Berlin, Germany, and Abby Sewell in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed to this report.