BEIRUT: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has pledged $16 million aid to strengthen the Lebanese armed forces, Western media reported on Wednesday.
Baerbock, during a visit to Beirut, said the military assistance was aimed at helping the Lebanese army to better secure its border with Israel.
She said the army must be able to have effective control over the area bordering with Israel.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging daily fire across the border since the Israel-Hamas war started on October 7. Hezbollah is a close ally of Hamas.
The cross-border unrest has sparked chances of a wider regional conflict, prompting Western diplomats to visit Lebanon urging restraint and discuss political solutions.
Baerbock, who held discussions with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, said an escalation of the conflict would be catastrophe for the two states.
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She asked Hezbollah to withdraw from the border region with Israel, under United Nations Resolution 1701.
She strongly believed that the war in Gaza must not be used as an excuse to open another front in the region.
Baerbock also visited to the German frigate “Baden-Wuerttemberg” at the port of Beirut. German soldiers are part of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force monitoring the area on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The $16 million pledged by Germany will go toward purchasing fuel as well as border surveillance training for Lebanese troops.
According to the health ministry in Gaza the death toll from the relentless Israeli bombardment has now reached at 23,357, mostly women and children.
