BEIRUT, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Friday that more than 1 million people have been displaced in Lebanon, over 10,000 people have been killed or wounded, and cumulative war losses have exceeded 14 billion U.S. dollars, as he called on the European Union to convene an international reconstruction conference.
Speaking at an informal meeting of European Union heads of state and government in Cyprus, Aoun said Lebanon was facing an existential crisis amid continued conflict and economic decline.
According to a statement released by Lebanon Presidency, Aoun said Israeli military operations had included more than 1,300 evacuation orders covering 311 towns and villages and more than 6,800 airstrikes through April 11. Those attacks resulted in more than 10,000 casualties, dead and wounded, including women, children, and people with disabilities.
Aoun said around 13 percent of the displaced were staying in shelters, mostly in public schools and universities, placing additional pressure on Lebanon's education system and state institutions.
Despite the crisis, Aoun said the Lebanese government had taken decisive steps in recent months to strengthen sovereignty, including reinforcing the principle that decisions on war and peace, and on all matters of arms, must remain exclusively under the authority of the state and its legitimate institutions.
He said Lebanon was also engaged in a diplomatic negotiation track sponsored by the United States and supported by the EU and Arab countries to reach a sustainable solution that would end Israeli attacks and secure a full Israeli withdrawal behind internationally recognized borders.
Aoun urged the EU to increase humanitarian financing, revive a French-backed support conference for the Lebanese Armed Forces, and consider a future European mission after the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon's mandate ends.
