Damage to buildings in latest Israel-Lebanon war estimated at $1.38 billion

The financial cost of structural damage to buildings sustained during the latest Israel-Lebanon war has been estimated at $1.38 billion, according to a new assessment reported by NDTV. The figure offers the clearest monetary picture yet of the physical destruction inflicted on Lebanon during the conflict, which saw sustained Israeli aerial and ground operations targeting Hezbollah positions across the country's south and parts of Beirut's suburbs.

The $1.38 billion estimate covers damage to residential and commercial buildings, but experts caution it represents only a portion of the true economic toll. Infrastructure damage — to roads, power grids, water systems, and communications networks — as well as losses from displacement, business closure, and agricultural destruction, would push the overall figure far higher.

Lebanon entered the conflict already in the grip of one of the worst economic crises of any country in modern history, with its currency having lost over 90% of its value and its banking sector effectively frozen since 2019. The added burden of reconstruction costs at this scale presents an almost insurmountable challenge without massive international assistance.

International donors and multilateral institutions, including the World Bank and United Nations agencies, are expected to use such assessments to structure post-conflict reconstruction aid packages. However, Lebanon's complex political landscape and the involvement of Hezbollah — designated a terrorist organisation by several Western states — have historically complicated the flow of international support.

For the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese displaced by the fighting, the $1.38 billion figure is both a measure of what was lost and a marker of how far reconstruction still has to go.