‘$11 billion needed to rebuild Lebanon’

Mexico City: The cost of reconstruction and recovery for Lebanon following the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war is estimated at USD 11 billion, the World Bank said in a new report Friday.

The war killed over 4,000 people in Lebanon, displaced hundreds of thousands and caused widespread destruction in the nation.

The report by the World Bank’s Lebanon Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment covered damage and losses in ten sectors across the country from October 8, 2023 until December 20, 2024.

Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border on Oct 8, 2023, one day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in an escalating conflict that became a full-blown war in late September. A US-brokered ceasefire went into effect in late November. The World Bank report estimated that of the $11 billion in reconstruction and recovery needs, $3 to $5 billion will need to be publicly financed, including for infrastructure sectors. It added that private financing is required for about $6 to $8 billion of the costs, mostly in the housing, commerce, industry, and tourism sectors.