French President Emmanuel Macron declared intention to host a new international conference on crisis-hit Lebanon next month.
The event will coincide with the first anniversary of Beirut’s port blast that left more than 200 people dead.
The conference will aim to “respond to the needs of the Lebanese whose situation is deteriorating every day,” France’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Last week, The European Union declared its intention to develop a legal framework to impose sanctions on Lebanese leaders involved in the Beirut blast.
The European legal efforts are led by France as Lebanon prepares to mark the first anniversary of the Beirut Port blast.
The EU hopes to have developed the framework for the sanctions by the end of July.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Brussels: “I can say that the objective is to complete this by the end of the month. I am not talking about the implementation of the regime, just the building of the regime according to sound legal basis.”
“Lebanon has been in self-destruct mode for several months,” French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. “Now there is a major emergency situation for a population that is in distress.”
This came as Lebanon is due to mark the first anniversary of the Beirut Port blast amid growing popular protests demanding the lifting of senior officials’ immunity in the port blast probe .
Rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also called for a UN investigation into the explosion in light of the stalled investigation.
More than 200 people were killed during the tragic explosion, while thousands were injured.
