France will send 60 tonnes of aid to Lebanon this week, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Wednesday, announcing an increased relief shipment as the country faces growing humanitarian needs.
Issued on: 11/03/2026 - RFI
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday, as France announced it would send 60 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Lebanon amid escalating fighting. AFP - -
The aid will include sanitation kits, hygiene supplies, mattresses, lamps and a mobile medical post intended to support civilians, Barrot told the French broadcaster TF1.
“What we have decided is to triple the volume of aid that will arrive this week," he said.
The announcement comes as violence linked to the regional war spreads in Lebanon.
Israeli air strikes have hit several areas of the country in recent days as fighting with the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement continues.
The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, said more than 667,000 people had been displaced in Lebanon within days as civilians flee bombardment amid evacuation orders.
UN agencies have warned that hospitals and aid services are struggling to cope with the surge in casualties and displaced families.
France said on Monday it was deeply concerned by the escalation of violence and the displacement of people – calling on all parties to respect international humanitarian law and protect civilian populations.
Strikes in Beirut
Israel has intensified strikes against its northern neighbour in recent days, targeting fighters and infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
Beirut and its southern suburbs have been hit repeatedly, with the latest strike taking place overnight in the densely populated Aicha Bakkar district, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
The seventh and eighth floors of a residential building were reportedly destroyed in the strike and several nearby cars were damaged.
Since the start of the hostilities, 759,300 people have been displaced in Lebanon, according to the latest figures released by Lebanese authorities.
Nearly 500 people have been killed so far, the authorities said.
(with newswires)
The aid will include sanitation kits, hygiene supplies, mattresses, lamps and a mobile medical post intended to support civilians, Barrot told the French broadcaster TF1.
“What we have decided is to triple the volume of aid that will arrive this week," he said.
The announcement comes as violence linked to the regional war spreads in Lebanon.
Israeli air strikes have hit several areas of the country in recent days as fighting with the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement continues.
The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, said more than 667,000 people had been displaced in Lebanon within days as civilians flee bombardment amid evacuation orders.
UN agencies have warned that hospitals and aid services are struggling to cope with the surge in casualties and displaced families.
France said on Monday it was deeply concerned by the escalation of violence and the displacement of people – calling on all parties to respect international humanitarian law and protect civilian populations.
Strikes in Beirut
Israel has intensified strikes against its northern neighbour in recent days, targeting fighters and infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
Beirut and its southern suburbs have been hit repeatedly, with the latest strike taking place overnight in the densely populated Aicha Bakkar district, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
The seventh and eighth floors of a residential building were reportedly destroyed in the strike and several nearby cars were damaged.
Since the start of the hostilities, 759,300 people have been displaced in Lebanon, according to the latest figures released by Lebanese authorities.
Nearly 500 people have been killed so far, the authorities said.
(with newswires)
From Lebanon to Iran, Says Sanders, US Must End Complicity in ‘Netanyahu’s Wars’
“In less than two weeks, Israel has killed 570 people and displaced 750,000—over 10% of the entire country,” the senator said of Lebanon. “Residential buildings are being bombed with no warning.”
Smoke rises over Dahieh, a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, following Israeli airstrikes
“In less than two weeks, Israel has killed 570 people and displaced 750,000—over 10% of the entire country,” the senator said of Lebanon. “Residential buildings are being bombed with no warning.”
Smoke rises over Dahieh, a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, following Israeli airstrikes
on March 11, 2026.
(Photo by Adri Salido/Getty Images)
Jessica Corbett
Mar 11, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Just a day after tearing into US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “unraveling international law, the Geneva Conventions, and the legitimacy of the United Nations” with their illegal war on Iran, Sen. Bernie Sanders stressed that “it’s not just Iran.”
“It’s Lebanon,” Sanders (I-Vt.) said on social media Wednesday. Since Trump and Netanyahu began bombing Iran a dozen days ago, Israel has also ramped up attacks against its northern neighbor—claiming to target the Lebanese political and paramilitary group Hezbollah—despite a November 2024 ceasefire deal.
That agreement to protect the Lebanese people was struck just over a year into Israel’s retaliation for the October 2023 Hamas-led attack, which has also left the Gaza Strip in ruins. Despite the Lebanon truce, and another for Gaza reached this past October, Israeli forces have continued to slaughter civilians in both places.
In Lebanon, Sanders noted Wednesday, “in less than two weeks, Israel has killed 570 people and displaced 750,000—over 10% of the entire country. Residential buildings are being bombed with no warning.”
“The US cannot continue to be complicit in Netanyahu’s wars,” declared the senator. His comments came after the White House tried to walk back Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s suggestion last week that Trump followed the Israeli prime minister’s lead on Iran.
Sanders has also criticized and even attempted to curb US complicity in Netanyahu’s genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza—under the Biden and Trump administrations—by forcing unsuccessful votes to cut off some weapons to Israel.
The Israeli government has used the operation against Iran—which experts argue violates the US Constitution and UN Charter—to again cut off necessary humanitarian aid to Gaza, claiming last week that “the existing stock is expected to suffice for an extended period.”
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, called the move “a new chokehold on Gaza,” adding that “after more than two years of unspeakable suffering and a spreading man-made famine, people still lack the most basic supplies, despite increases in aid since the ceasefire.
As for Lebanon, Axios reported Monday that “the Lebanese government proposed direct negotiations with Israel—through the Trump administration—aimed at ending the war and reaching a peace agreement.”
However, the Financial Times reported Tuesday that “Israel has rejected diplomatic overtures by Lebanon,” with one unnamed source saying that the Lebanese “are ready to talk to Israel, but under the condition of a cessation of fire. Not a ceasefire, but a cessation... so talks can get going in Cyprus.”
“Israel has so far refused and says it will only negotiate ‘under fire,’” according to that unnamed source.
Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, made US support for Israel’s bombing of Lebanon clear in his Wednesday remarks to the UN Security Council.
“The United States condemns the attacks that Hezbollah, a long-time proxy of the Iranian regime, has launched against Israel. Hezbollah has yet again made it clear that it does not represent nor does it defend the people of Lebanon. It defends the interests of the Iranian regime,” Waltz said, stressing Israel’s “right to defend itself.”
Waltz also welcomed the Lebanese Council of Ministers’ recent decision “to immediately prohibit Hezbollah’s military and security activities,” and declared that “now is the time for the government of Lebanon to take back control of the entirety of its country.”
Meanwhile, Tom Fletcher, United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, noted to the Security Council that UN Secretary-General António Guterres “has insisted... we need the protection of civilians, de-escalation, an immediate cessation of hostilities, and genuine dialogue and negotiations towards a peaceful settlement, in line with the charter.”
Fletcher concluded his comments at the briefing on Lebanon with calls for the protection of “all civilians throughout the region,” “generous funding for a principled, scaled-up humanitarian response,” and “a revival of strategic, calm, rational, hopeful diplomacy.”
“Lebanon is exhausted by other people’s wars,” he said. “It is not asking for help, but for oxygen. Its people can defy the history, the geography, even the politics. They can be stronger than the forces pulling them apart. But they can only do that if Iran and Israel stop fighting their war in Lebanon.”
(Photo by Adri Salido/Getty Images)
Jessica Corbett
Mar 11, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Just a day after tearing into US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “unraveling international law, the Geneva Conventions, and the legitimacy of the United Nations” with their illegal war on Iran, Sen. Bernie Sanders stressed that “it’s not just Iran.”
“It’s Lebanon,” Sanders (I-Vt.) said on social media Wednesday. Since Trump and Netanyahu began bombing Iran a dozen days ago, Israel has also ramped up attacks against its northern neighbor—claiming to target the Lebanese political and paramilitary group Hezbollah—despite a November 2024 ceasefire deal.
That agreement to protect the Lebanese people was struck just over a year into Israel’s retaliation for the October 2023 Hamas-led attack, which has also left the Gaza Strip in ruins. Despite the Lebanon truce, and another for Gaza reached this past October, Israeli forces have continued to slaughter civilians in both places.
In Lebanon, Sanders noted Wednesday, “in less than two weeks, Israel has killed 570 people and displaced 750,000—over 10% of the entire country. Residential buildings are being bombed with no warning.”
“The US cannot continue to be complicit in Netanyahu’s wars,” declared the senator. His comments came after the White House tried to walk back Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s suggestion last week that Trump followed the Israeli prime minister’s lead on Iran.
Sanders has also criticized and even attempted to curb US complicity in Netanyahu’s genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza—under the Biden and Trump administrations—by forcing unsuccessful votes to cut off some weapons to Israel.
The Israeli government has used the operation against Iran—which experts argue violates the US Constitution and UN Charter—to again cut off necessary humanitarian aid to Gaza, claiming last week that “the existing stock is expected to suffice for an extended period.”
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, called the move “a new chokehold on Gaza,” adding that “after more than two years of unspeakable suffering and a spreading man-made famine, people still lack the most basic supplies, despite increases in aid since the ceasefire.
As for Lebanon, Axios reported Monday that “the Lebanese government proposed direct negotiations with Israel—through the Trump administration—aimed at ending the war and reaching a peace agreement.”
However, the Financial Times reported Tuesday that “Israel has rejected diplomatic overtures by Lebanon,” with one unnamed source saying that the Lebanese “are ready to talk to Israel, but under the condition of a cessation of fire. Not a ceasefire, but a cessation... so talks can get going in Cyprus.”
“Israel has so far refused and says it will only negotiate ‘under fire,’” according to that unnamed source.
Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, made US support for Israel’s bombing of Lebanon clear in his Wednesday remarks to the UN Security Council.
“The United States condemns the attacks that Hezbollah, a long-time proxy of the Iranian regime, has launched against Israel. Hezbollah has yet again made it clear that it does not represent nor does it defend the people of Lebanon. It defends the interests of the Iranian regime,” Waltz said, stressing Israel’s “right to defend itself.”
Waltz also welcomed the Lebanese Council of Ministers’ recent decision “to immediately prohibit Hezbollah’s military and security activities,” and declared that “now is the time for the government of Lebanon to take back control of the entirety of its country.”
Meanwhile, Tom Fletcher, United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, noted to the Security Council that UN Secretary-General António Guterres “has insisted... we need the protection of civilians, de-escalation, an immediate cessation of hostilities, and genuine dialogue and negotiations towards a peaceful settlement, in line with the charter.”
Fletcher concluded his comments at the briefing on Lebanon with calls for the protection of “all civilians throughout the region,” “generous funding for a principled, scaled-up humanitarian response,” and “a revival of strategic, calm, rational, hopeful diplomacy.”
“Lebanon is exhausted by other people’s wars,” he said. “It is not asking for help, but for oxygen. Its people can defy the history, the geography, even the politics. They can be stronger than the forces pulling them apart. But they can only do that if Iran and Israel stop fighting their war in Lebanon.”
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