Middle East live: Paris talks aim to bolster Lebanese army as end of UN mission looms

LIVE Add Arena.im to your site 17/09/2026 - 08:55 Yemen's Houthis say Saudi strikes killed one, targeted telecom towers Saudi strikes in Yemen have killed one person and targeted three telecommunications towers, according to Houthi media. "Saudi enemy warplanes targeted three telecommunications towers" in Taiz province, while one civilian was killed and another injured in strikes on the town of Abs, Almasirah television said. 17/09/2026 - 08:21 A new international mission? Despite Lebanon and France both favouring an extension of the UN mandate, neither the United States nor Israel has signalled support for prolonging the mission. The officials in Paris will discuss options for a new international mission, backed by France and Italy, operating outside a UN mandate, as well as a possible European Union-led mission. Both concepts would focus on training, equipment, intelligence sharing and mentoring support for the Lebanese Armed Forces. "The modalities of this international or multinational action remain to be defined — if only because the Lebanese have not voiced requests that align with, in particular, US demands at the Security Council, and because we still need to calibrate the terms of this presence and be absolutely clear about the mandate," a French presidency official told reporters. 17/09/2026 - 08:16 What are the Paris talks about? Today's meeting in Paris will centre on preparing the ground for a donor conference, likely to be held ‌in late 2026 or early 2027 It will also focus on the situation in southern Lebanon and plans for an international presence there after the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL expires at the end of the year. The most immediate concern is how to fill the security vacuum that could be left when UNIFIL, which has about 7,500 personnel, begins drawing down from January. 17/09/2026 - 08:11 Caught between Israel and Hezbollah Lebanon's cash-strapped army is caught between the Israeli military — now occupying much of southern Lebanon — and Hezbollah. The Iran-backed militant group has refused calls to give up its weapons. 17/09/2026 - 08:09 Welcome to our liveblog The heads of state of Lebanon, France and Jordan will be meeting in Paris shortly as part of an effort to drum up support for the struggling Lebanese military. A donor conference for Lebanon's army was initially set to take place in February, led by France, Saudi Arabia and the United States. However, it was postponed following the eruption of the Iran war and the latest round of the Israel-Hezbollah war. Yesterday's key developments: Yemen 's Houthis reported fresh Saudi air strikes on Wednesday as Riyadh accused the group of launching a "cowardly" attack targeting Islam's holy city of Mecca – which the Houthis disputed. Rescuers in war-torn Gaza were searching for dozens of people missing after an apartment block collapsed, killing eight people including children. Israel and Morocco have agreed to upgrade ties and open embassies in their respective countries following, according to an Israeli foreign ministry statement. (FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)