Lebanon's caretaker prime minister pleaded in Paris on Thursday for support for his nation's army which would help secure any ceasefire, but a low-level U.S. presence at the conference in France and a looming U.

PARIS (Reuters) - World powers are meeting in Paris on Thursday aiming to raise at least 500 million euros in urgent humanitarian aid for Lebanon and push for a ceasefire, but with the U.S. focused on its own efforts, diplomats said they expect little concrete progress.

Israel continued its operations in Gaza and Lebanon after Hamas leader and Oct. 7, 2023 attack mastermind Yahya Sinwar was killed in a firefight.

The U.S. secretary of state, visiting Israel, said the killing of Hamas’s leader last week could create an opening for peace, and he pushed the Israeli prime minister to allow more aid into Gaza.