World Bank delegation conducts tour in southern Lebanon

Arriving earlier this week, the delegation representing the World Bank management conducted, as planned, a tour of southern Lebanon to assess conditions in several localities in the western sector as well as in the city of Sour, and to gauge the extent of destruction caused by Israeli strikes in the region, according to several local media outlets, including lebeconomy.com and the MTV channel.

The visit began at the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Naqoura (Sour district), where the delegation met with the commander of the Blue Helmets, Major General Diodato Abagnara, in the presence of officials from the civil and military affairs offices. During the day, Israel carried out two strikes in southern Lebanon, in the Bint Jbeil district. The Israeli army violates the cease-fire agreed at the end of November 2024 almost daily.

The World Bank delegation includes eleven representatives from management, including Jean-Christophe Carret, Director of the Middle East Division, and Abdelaziz al-Mulla, the Bank’s representative for the Middle East. This visit had been scheduled during the Lebanese delegation’s trip to Washington on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Since its arrival, the delegation has met with Army Commander General Rodolph Haykal, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. It also met on Thursday with Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, who headed the Lebanese delegation to Washington. Jaber had said on Thursday that he feared delays in parliamentary approval of the $250 million World Bank loan for reconstruction could “raise concerns about its possible cancellation.”

In a report published last winter, the World Bank estimated the total cost of damage and losses suffered by Lebanon during the war between Israel and Hezbollah at around $14 billion.

La délégation de la Banque mondiale a effectué sa tournée au Liban-Sud