Destruction in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila left behind by occupying Israeli soldiers, pictured here on Feb. 18, 2025. (Credit: Moe Yassin/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — The information still isn't official, but word is spreading that nearly the 14 months of Israeli attacks will cost Lebanon $14 billion in reconstruction. Government sources leaked the World Bank's estimates to LBCI on Thursday following a meeting at the Grand Serail, during which the international organization's assessment of material damages, economic losses and financial needs were addressed.
Another source familiar with the matter confirmed this number to L'Orient-Le Jour, though the World Bank has yet to comment on the matter.
The Grand Serail meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam was attended by a delegation from the World Bank. Several ministers were also in attendance, according to an official Serail statement, including Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, Energy Minister Joe Saddi and Public Works Minister Fayez Rasamny, with whom the World Bank had been in coordination since Monday, discussing an initial plan to provide $250 million in aid.
Jaber spoke to the press following the meeting, but did not confirm the amount presented by the World Bank, stating simply that reconstruction costs were "in the billions of dollars."
For the first 11 months, the war in Lebanon was largely contained to the border areas, with Hezbollah and Israel launching strikes within roughly 10 kilometers of the Blue Line, a U.N.-drawn demarcation that runs from the Golan Heights to the sea. In mid-September, Israel dramatically escalated its attacks, exploding thousands of pagers used by members of Hezbollah and then assassinating its leader. From Sept. 23 until the cease-fire was enacted on Nov. 27, Israel bombed eastern and southern Lebanon, including the capital, thousands of times, killing almost 4,000 people. At least 60 buildings were flattened in Beirut's southern suburbs alone during the first two weeks of all-out war.
Following the cease-fire, occupying Israeli troops spent nearly three months demolishing homes and infrastructure in southern Lebanon, razing entire villages to the ground.
To finance reconstruction, Lebanon will have no choice but to rely on the international community. The World Bank delegation recommended that Lebanon establish a fund for reconstruction and implement reforms that ensure transparency in how the contributed funds will be used.
"There will certainly be contributions from other countries," the Serail statement quotes Jaber as saying, adding that the World Bank's participation was a token of "credibility." Jaber said the priority was to restore basic services such as roads, water and electricity in the areas most devastated by Israeli bombardment.
The leak of the near-final war bill estimate comes as the United Nations, the European Union, and the World Bank announced on Thursday that more than $50 billion will be needed to rebuild Gaza after 15 months of devastating Israeli onslaught against the besieged enclave, according to an assessment using the same methodology that the World Bank is finalizing in Lebanon (Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment, IRDNA).