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Beirut. — A host of nations have pledged nearly $300m in humanitarian assistance to Lebanon at a conference aimed at rallying international support for the crisis-hit country days after a debilitating explosion in the capital, Beirut.

In a joint statement after yesterday’s virtual event, the donor countries said the financial aid will be “directly delivered to the Lebanese population” and offered support for an “impartial, credible and independent inquiry” into last Tuesday’s disaster that killed more than 150 people and wounded some 6 000.

The office of French President Emmanuel Macron, who led the conference, said the meeting raised pledges worth almost € 253 million (US$298m). In his opening remarks, Macron said the funds would primarily support healthcare, food security, education and housing.

“The Lebanese authorities must now implement political and economic reforms demanded by the Lebanese people and which alone will enable the international community to act effectively alongside Lebanon for reconstruction,” Macron said.

France has organised four donor conferences for Lebanon in the last 20 years where more than US$20bn was pledged, mostly conditional on reforms that were not implemented.

Lebanon is suffering from a major economic crisis and a growing coronavirus outbreak as well as the devastating aftermath of last Tuesday’s explosion that left up to 300,000 people homeless.

At Beirut’s port, the epicentre of the explosion, grain silos were eviscerated while hospitals and schools across the city were destroyed. — Aljazeera.