Blinken calls for urgency to reach diplomatic resolution in Lebanon

LONDON - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday there was a real sense of urgency to reach a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon following Israel's military operations in the country.

"We have a sense of real urgency in getting to a diplomatic resolution and the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, such that there can be real security along border between Israel and Lebanon," Blinken said in London.

He said it was important so "people at both sides of the border can have the confidence to be able to return to their homes".

World powers raised $1 billion to ease the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and support its army at a conference in Paris on Thursday, with France's foreign minister urging Israel to heed the message to cease fire and focus on diplomacy.

Some 70 government delegations and 15 international organisations met in Paris to help Lebanon, but a low-level U.S. presence and its looming election dimmed prospects for a swift halt to fighting.

"The message (for Israel) is simple: Cease fire!" France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told a news conference, reiterating that a Franco-American proposal for a temporary truce was still on the table.

Barrot said more than $800 million, including $300 million from Washington, had been raised primarily to help up to one million displaced with food, healthcare and education.

A further $200 million would go to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), deemed as the guarantor of internal stability, and also vital to implementing 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 that calls for southern Lebanon to be free of any troops or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state.

France has historical ties with Lebanon and has been working with Washington in trying to secure a ceasefire, although the two allies differ on approach regarding 1701.

After Israel rebuffed a 21-day ceasefire plan in September, Paris' influence has been limited since Israel launched its large-scale onslaught on Iran-backed Hezbollah that has killed more than 2,500 people and displaced at least 1.2 million.

"The storm we are currently witnessing is unlike any other, because it carries the seeds of total destruction," Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati told delegates, pleading for more pressure to be put on Israel.

Opening the conference, President Emmanuel Macron said there must not be a return to past cycles of violence.

"More damage, more victims, more strikes will not enable the end of terrorism or ensure security for everyone," he said.

Despite the repeated calls for a ceasefire, there was no sign on Thursday of the conflict abating. Three Lebanese soldiers were killed in an Israeli strike near the border, the Lebanese army said.