The minister would first visit a Beirut school where French nationals were gathering for an evacuation. He was also scheduled to meet Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, parliament speaker Nabih Berri and Foreign Minister Fawzi Sallukh on the latest developments of the Middle East situation.

Douste-Blazy paid a visit to Cyprus, the first stop for evacuees fleeing Lebanon by boat, before his arrival in Beirut, the second stop of his ongoing five-nation tour that will also take him to Egypt, Jordan and Israel.

Douste-Blazy's Middle East tour was part of France's bid to quell the escalated fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, after the Israeli offensive caused a total of more than 300 casualties, most of them Lebanese civilians.

With concerns mounting over a humanitarian crisis, the international community has called for an immediate halt to the Israel-Lebanon conflict. However, the United States was against a ceasefire, dismissing the deal as unrealistic.