South Lebanon: $11 billion needed, $89 million planned
South Lebanon needs $11 billion to rebuild. A year after the ceasefire, almost nothing started.
The destruction record is dizzying: 11,095 buildings completely destroyed, 17,891 housing units affected, 3.1 million cubic metres of rubble. Whole villages like Aytaroun, Bint Jbeil or Naqurah have been removed from the map. The total economic cost of the conflict is $14 billion.
Yet Budget 2026 only allocates $89 million to reconstruction — a drop of water in the ocean to meet needs.
The reason is that international donors condition their aid for the disarmament of Hezbollah, which refuses to cooperate with the government’s plan. As a result, an explicit market between money and weapons, and a reconstruction taken hostage by a political arm.
Some timid financing is emerging: a $250 million World Bank loan, 434 million pledged by Qatar (especially for energy). But according to the World Bank, there will still be 3 to 5 billion public and 6 to 8 billion private — an equation that no one knows how to solve.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of families in the South are still waiting to return home.
📌 Analyse factuelle et sourcée de LibnaNEWS.
This video contains visuals generated/assisted by IA.
Watch the original video on YouTube
