Lebanon is beginning to take stock of the damage left by the war with Israel, with officials estimating that billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild homes, infrastructure and public services. Information Minister Paul Marcos said Monday that direct material damage is estimated at between $3 billion and $4 billion. 

The figure covers only physical destruction and excludes broader economic losses. Marcos made the remarks after a ministerial meeting in Beirut that reviewed field assessments from southern villages and towns heavily damaged by the fighting, according to the state-run National News Agency. Ministers also discussed ways to support the return of displaced residents, expand temporary shelter and assess municipal needs ahead of reconstruction efforts.

Why it matters: The estimate is one of several attempts to quantify the cost of the war. The World Bank has estimated Lebanon's reconstruction and recovery needs at around $11 billion, including $7.2 billion in physical damage, while Finance Minister Yassine Jaber told Reuters in May that the conflict may have caused as much as $20 billion in direct and indirect damage, though he did not provide a breakdown. A June assessment by the United Nations Development Programme estimated more than $1.38 billion in building damage across southern Lebanon alone, finding that more than 11,000 buildings had been destroyed in the areas it surveyed south of the Litani River.

The destruction adds to the burden of an economy already crippled by a financial crisis that began in 2019. The collapse of Lebanon's banking sector triggered a currency crisis that wiped out about 98% of the Lebanese pound's value against the US dollar and pushed much of the population into poverty.