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.

By John Irish and Maya Gebeily PARIS (Reuters) -World powers raised $1 billion to ease the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and support its army at a conference in Paris on Thursday, with France's foreign minister urging Israel to heed the message to cease fire and focus on diplomacy.

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,