Belgium provides extra humanitarian funding for Lebanon
During a visit to Beirut on Wednesday, Belgian Foreign minister Maxime Prévot announced the release of additional funding to support Lebanon.
Two million euros for short-term humanitarian aid have been released, in addition to the 2 million euros already earmarked for 2026. A further 2 million euros has been mobilised to support, via UN agencies, the Lebanese authorities’ capacity to provide basic services such as education and health.
“Lebanon cannot become the forgotten collateral damage of the conflict in the Middle East,” Prévot said, as the country faces an intensification of Israeli strikes, mainly in the south. “My presence here is intended to reaffirm Belgium’s support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
He is due to meet the country’s highest authorities during his visit, including president Joseph Aoun. He will also confirm the arrival of a second consignment of essential supplies since the start of the crisis via the B-FAST emergency response agency, worth a further 150,000 euros.
Prévot will visit the Camille Chaoun stadium, which is serving as a reception centre for hundreds of displaced people. Belgium, which had already contributed 3 million euros to the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund by the end of 2025, “stands in solidarity and will continue to do so”, Prévot said.
"Lebanon cannot become the forgotten collateral damage of the conflict in the Middle East"
Pakistani prime minister and mediator Shehbaz Sharif declared that the ceasefire between the US and Iran, announced late on Tuesday, also applied to Lebanon, where the Israeli army is fighting the Iran-backed Hezbollah. However, the office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuted this on Wednesday morning.
Figures from the Lebanese authorities put the death toll in the country at more than 1,300 people, with 3,500 injured. The total number of displaced people exceeds 1 million.
“The war in the Middle East continues to hit the population in Lebanon hard,” the Foreign ministry said in a statement. “After a first donation in March, Belgium is once again responding to this need for help by sending additional emergency aid supplies via B-FAST, in order to help this highly vulnerable population.”
Foreign minister Maxime Prévot visits a Red Cross shelter at the Camille Chamoun sports city stadium, in South Beirut, Lebanon, 8 April 2026 © BELGA PHOTO VIRGINIE LEFOUR
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