Qatar pledges to help fund the reconstruction of southern Lebanon

The Qatari prime minister vows that Qatar will help Lebanon revive its struggling economy, including by rehabilitating its crumbling electricity sector and supporting the future reconstruction of the country’s south.

Qatar will continue to support the Lebanese army “as a national institution that safeguards the country’s security, unity and stability,” Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani says after meeting in Beirut with his Lebanese counterpart Nawaf Salam.

The Qatari official says that QatarEnergy has reached an agreement with French company TotalEnergies to jointly develop a solar power plant in Lebanon as an initial project. He said that the aim is to develop a major investment project “that would benefit the Lebanese economy, as well as the Qatari companies and entities participating in it.”

Salam says he will put the plans for Lebanon’s electricity sector to the Lebanese cabinet soon.

“The Qatari side will fund, implement and activate the project without any cost to the Lebanese state,” Salam says, adding that such a move is important because of Lebanon’s financial crisis.

Earlier in the day, Qatar’s prime minister met with Lebanon’s president and parliamentary speaker and discussed with them the situation in southern Lebanon in the wake of the harsh war fought between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Qatari leader says Doha is working in coordination with the United States to help lay the groundwork for future reconstruction in southern Lebanon, in a manner that would allow displaced people to return to their homes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced Qatar as a “hostile state” for hosting Hamas leadership, but has also faced criticism for allowing Doha for years to fund the terror group’s activity in Gaza before the October 7 attack.