Qatar boosts influence in Lebanon amid multiple crises

Most wealthy Gulf Arab nations followed Saudi Arabia’s lead in recent years and ostracized crisis-hit Lebanon because of the growing influence of the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. The exception was Qatar.
Doha has been silently expanding its influence in Lebanon. It continued receiving Lebanese leaders and pumped tens millions of dollars into helping the country’s armed forces amid a historic economic meltdown.
The small, gas-rich nation in late January began seeing the fruits of its investment, when state-owned Qatar Energy replaced a Russian firm in an international consortium that will search for gas in the Mediterranean Sea off Lebanon’s coast.
And on Monday, Qatar will for the first time join a meeting in Paris along with officials from France, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. for discussions focusing on Lebanon’s political and economic crises.