Qatar renews $60 mn grant for Lebanon army salaries
Qatar is sending scores of military vehicles to the Lebanese army and a new, $60 million donation to help it pay salaries to officers as the small Mediterranean country recovers from the fighting in Hezbollah's latest war with Israel, the two Arab countries announced Wednesday.
Gas-rich Qatar has been a main backer of the Lebanese army since an unprecedented economic crisis engulfed the country in late 2019. Qatar was first sending food aid for the military while cash donations began in 2022.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah launched its own attacks on Israel a day after the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023 with the Palestinian militants' attack on southern Israel. Hezbollah saying it was doing so to ease the pressure on Gaza by keeping part of the Israeli military busy along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon.
After 14 months, a U.S.-brokered ceasefire halted the Hezbollah-Israel war, which killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and caused destruction that will take $11 billion to rebuild, according to the World Bank.
Since the November ceasefire, Lebanon has elected a new president and prime minister, who have both promised to carry out reforms.
The statement by Qatar and Lebanon said 162 military vehicles would be sent to the Lebanese army to help the military "carry out its national duties to preserve stability and control the border."
It came after visiting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The statement mentioned the necessity of implementing the U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for deploying more Lebanese troops along the border with Israel in the wake of the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters under the ceasefire.
The emir said Qatar "stands by Lebanon, its people and institutions."
Aoun, who began a two-day visit to Qatar on Tuesday, condemned Israel's military presence and refusal to withdraw from Lebanon, as well as almost daily airstrikes in the border area.
Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah fighters and equipment in the border area.
Israel withdrew from much of south Lebanon in mid-February but stayed in five strategic overlook locations inside the country.
Since then, Israeli drones strikes have killed or wounded dozens of people. Two separate Israeli drones strikes on Wednesday on south Lebanon killed two people, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Source: Associated Press
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