Minutes ago, a donor conference sponsored by French President Emmanuel Macron to secure aid Lebanon kicked off in Paris, where US President Donald Trump and other political leaders participated through a United Nations-sponsored television circle.
The conference aims at collecting emergency aid for Lebanon after a massive blast occurred in Beirut port last week.
Speaking at the opening of the conference, Macron said: "Our role is to be on the side of the Lebanese people," calling for "establishing an international response with the coordination of the United Nations."
"We have to act quickly and this aid should go directly to where people need it on the ground," he added.
"The money raised today should be just the beginning," he said.
Emergency aid is needed for reconstruction, food aid, medical supplies, and rebuilding schools and hospitals.
Representatives of Britain, the European Union, China and Russia, along with Egypt and Jordan, are participating in the conference, which Macron hosts from his summer resort in the French Riviera.
Lebanon was already stuck in a political and economic crisis when the explosion occurred in its main port last Tuesday, killing about 160 people, injuring more than six thousand others and destroying a large area of the city.
According to experts, rebuilding Beirut may require billions of dollars. Economists expect the blast to wipe out up to 25 percent of the country's gross domestic product.
Macron visited Beirut on Thursday, the first president in the world to do so after the blast, and promised the Lebanese people that humanitarian aid would come, but stressed the need for radical political reforms to solve the country's problems and ensure longer-term support.
"I guarantee you that (reconstruction) aid will not fall into corrupt hands," he told the crowds that greeted him.
Earlier, the German foreign minister said that his country will provide additional emergency aid of 10 million euros (11.79 million dollars) in addition to the ongoing rescue contributions.
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