Middle East latest: French President Macron pledges 100 million euros in aid to support Lebanon

French President Emmanuel Macron says his country will provide a “massive” 100-million-euro aid package to support Lebanon

French President Emmanuel Macron says his country will provide a “massive” 100-million-euro ($108 million) aid package to support Lebanon.

“Massive aid is needed for the Lebanese population, both for the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the war and for the communities hosting them,” Macron said at an international conference on Thursday in Paris.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese military said Thursday an Israeli strike killed three of its troops, including an officer, as they were evacuating wounded people in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon's military said in a post on the social platform X that the strike hit the outskirts of the southern town of Yater. The army says Israeli forces have targeted it on eight occasions since all-out war broke out between Israel and Hezbollah in September.

The Israel-Hamas war began after Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023, blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not differentiate between militants and civilians.

United Nations humanitarian officials are reporting “harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction” in northern Gaza as Israel wages another major operation there.

Israel is also fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon. Lebanon’s Health Ministry says the total toll over the past year is over 2,500 killed and 12,000 wounded. The fighting in Lebanon has driven 1.2 million people from their homes, including more than 400,000 children, according to the United Nations children’s agency.

Hezbollah confirmed Wednesday that Hashem Safieddine, one of its top officials who had been widely expected to be the group’s next leader, was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Over the past several weeks, Israeli strikes have killed much of Hezbollah’s top leadership.

Here's the latest:

An Israeli strike kills 3 members of Lebanon's military, including an officer

BEIRUT — The Lebanese military says an Israeli strike killed three of its troops, including an officer, as they were evacuating wounded people in southern Lebanon.

In a Thursday post on X, it said the strike hit the outskirts of the southern town of Yater. The army says Israeli forces have targeted it on eight occasions since all-out war broke out between Israel and Hezbollah in September.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which said it was looking into the reports. It apologized for an earlier strike on Sunday that killed three Lebanese soldiers, saying it had targeted a vehicle in an area where Hezbollah had recently launched attacks without realizing it belonged to the army.

Lebanon’s armed forces have largely kept to the sidelines in the latest conflict. The army is not powerful enough to impose its will on Hezbollah or to resist Israel’s ground invasion.