French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his call for a ceasefire in Lebanon on Thursday, adding he regretted that Iran had engaged Hezbollah against Israel but also criticizing Israel's operations in the south of the country.
International support will be needed to shore up and expand Lebanon's army and rebuild the country's destroyed infrastructure, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati told a Paris conference convened amid Israel's assault on Hezbollah.
Mikati said the Lebanese government had decided to recruit more troops and could deploy 8,000 soldiers as part of a plan to implement a ceasefire and UN Security Council resolution, which calls for the army to be deployed in southern Lebanon.