World Bank estimates 11B USD needed to rebuild Lebanon after Israel-Hezbollah war

A Lebanese man rides his horse in Kfar Kila, a southern Lebanon village destroyed by an Israeli air and ground offensive, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

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

The report by the World Bank’s Lebanon Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment covered damage and losses in 10 sectors nationwide between October 8, 2023, and December 20, 2024.

It estimates that of the 11 billion USD in reconstruction and recovery needs, 3 billion USD to 5 billion USD will need to be publicly financed, including for infrastructure sectors. Private financing is required for about 6 billion USD to 8 billion USD of the costs, mostly in the housing, commerce, industry and tourism sectors.

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 United States (US) brokered ceasefire went into effect in late November.

The Lebanese army said Friday that the Israeli military escorted Israeli civilians into Lebanese territory to visit a Jewish shrine near the village of Houla without permission from Lebanese authorities and in violation of the ceasefire agreement.

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