The Lebanese Prime Minister confirms that the cost of two wars exceeded 27 billion dollars, amid widespread destruction in Gaza

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam confirmed today (Tuesday) that “the reality in Lebanon is very difficult, but getting out of it is not impossible if the national interest is placed above all else,” noting that the cost of two wars on Lebanon since 2023 may exceed $27 billion, according to the German News Agency.

Salam added, in today’s speech at the beginning of the plenary session of the Parliament, which was held to discuss the government, that “a war was imposed on Lebanon last March,” explaining that “the cost of the first war, which began on October 8, 2023, according to an estimate by the World Bank, amounted to about 14 billion dollars, while the direct cost of the last war, which began on March 2, has so far amounted, in a preliminary World Bank estimate, to between three and four billion dollars.”

He pointed out that “the two wars together certainly cost Lebanon more than $20 billion, and their total cost may exceed $27 billion when the 2026 war is fully calculated.”

He added: “After our country witnessed economic growth of 4.2 percent last year, which marked the beginning of a gradual recovery, we returned to an estimated contraction of 6.4 percent this year.”

The Prime Minister expressed the government's "extremely serious concerns about the serious lack of international funding and support compared to the 2024 response," noting that "the funding secured did not exceed 49.8 percent of the total needs, compared to a coverage rate of 94.9 percent in 2024."

He said: “Our goal is not to manage the displacement of the people of the south, but to return them to their land,” noting that “the extent of the destruction is much greater than the state’s capacity, with its current resources.” Therefore, reconstruction and recovery require Arab and international support and significant external financing.”

He continued: “We want to end the war. Our goal is Israel’s withdrawal from all Lebanese territory, the release of all our prisoners, and the safe and dignified return of our people to their villages and towns, which we want to rebuild. For this purpose, and in accordance with Article 52 of the Constitution, today the President of the Republic, in agreement with me as Prime Minister, undertakes negotiations with Israel under the auspices of the United States.

Salam announced that “the tripartite framework that was agreed upon in the negotiations constitutes a reference in the negotiating path.” But it is not an agreement in the legal sense of the word, but rather a political framework. It is not a completed agreement to be presented to the Council of Ministers with the aim of concluding it.”

He explained that “the tripartite framework included a series of executive measures, albeit without a calendar, leading to a gradual Israeli withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army.”

He pointed out that Lebanon's main commitment in the tripartite framework “is to confine weapons to the state.” There is nothing new in this, as our government committed to it in its ministerial statement, and you gave it confidence on the basis of it.”

Salam said: “We will not restore growth and confidence without completing financial and banking reform,” stressing “the importance of reaching an agreement with the IMF, as a basic option to which our government committed itself in its ministerial statement.”

He announced that “any additional unfunded spending may mean more pressure on liquidity and more pressure on foreign currencies.”

The Prime Minister pointed out that “addressing the electricity crisis and building new factories requires investments worth billions of dollars.” The state today cannot secure it alone.”

Salam believed that “there is no sustainable stability without extending the state’s authority over its entire territory by its own forces alone, and restricting the decision of war and peace to the state alone.”

The Lebanese authorities are dealing with extreme caution regarding the ongoing Israeli leaks regarding the withdrawal from some areas in southern Lebanon, in light of the absence of information about them from the American mediator, who has not yet conveyed to Beirut any reliable data in this regard.

A high-level Lebanese official source believes that the discrepancy between the political and military sides in Israel regarding the form of remaining in Lebanon “does not mean that things are passable in light of the ongoing faltering on the negotiating side.” The source explains that Israel's failure to facilitate the negotiation process led to the level of negotiation being reduced to the level of ambassadors, as is happening now in Washington, and therefore there is no one who can suggest credibility to the opposite field indicators.

Although the Israeli attacks continued in the vicinity of the Ali Al-Taher Hills after the explosion of the tunnels into which its forces entered, what was striking was the clear decline in the pace of these attacks. This was also accompanied by Israeli leaks broadcast by Channel 12, known for its closeness to the security services and the army, about Tel Aviv’s readiness to withdraw towards the “gray line.”

Although these leaks were followed by statements by the Israeli Defense Minister linking the withdrawal to the withdrawal of Hezbollah's weapons, the facts on the ground around the city of Nabatieh are more similar to the leaks than the statements. Field sources in southern Lebanon told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israeli forces evacuated the Ali Al-Taher Hills and retreated towards Beaufort Castle near the town of Arnoun.

The sources suggest that the town of Kafr Tibnit, which is located between the hills and the strategically located castle, has also become devoid of the Israeli presence. The Israeli forces also completed a military road linking Beaufort Castle with Israeli positions south of the Litani River without the need to pass through other Lebanese villages north of the river where Israeli forces are currently located. The sources go further, pointing out that the field situation “does not, so far, indicate an Israeli intention to escalate further in the vicinity of Nabatieh, based on the size of the forces that Israel is mobilizing in the region, and through its field actions.”

Ali Al-Taher... awaiting negotiations

An official Lebanese source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Lebanese Army Commander, Rudolph Heikal, took the initiative after the Ali Al-Taher bombings to contact American military officials at Centcom, announcing the Lebanese Army’s readiness to deploy in the Ali Al-Taher Hills area. The source indicated that the Americans contacted the Northern Command of the Israeli army, and returned with a response stating that Israel “prefers to leave the issue to the ongoing negotiations at the political level” between Beirut and Tel Aviv.

It is expected that a new negotiation session will be held between Lebanon and Israel at the beginning of next month, after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun asked the Americans to postpone the meeting that was scheduled in Rome in the middle of this month.

The source said that Aoun requested a postponement due to the Israeli failure to respond to Lebanese demands and the continued military escalation, most recently in “Ali Al-Taher.” He explained that Aoun stipulated a specific agenda that would allow for actual progress in the negotiations because he considered that there was no point in “negotiating for the sake of the image only.” He revealed that Aoun's instructions to the Lebanese Ambassador to Washington, Nada Moawad, who is meeting with her Israeli counterpart today in Washington, are summarized in exploring the possibility of progress in the negotiations in the field of establishing a real ceasefire and completing the process of releasing the Lebanese prisoners.

Visit Nabatieh... followed by a visit to the city of Tire

The source pointed out that the visit of the President of the Republic to Nabatieh and its environs was the beginning. Revealing that Aoun will also visit the coastal city of Tyre, which enjoys a slight advantage in its field situation compared to the city of Nabatieh. The source said that Aoun left with “very bad feelings” as a result of what he saw in the city. He was quoted as saying that he knew in advance the extent of the destruction and suffering, but what he saw with his own eyes increased his fears and anxiety.

The source said that Aoun then initiated pressure on Lebanese official circles to return “effectively” to the city and the rest of the southern regions. He asked the relevant ministries to intensify their work in the city to support the steadfastness of its people who “just want security, safety and a decent life in their homes.” He pointed out that Aoun requested accelerating the process of rebuilding the government palace in the city after the destruction it suffered. He requested to speed up the process of disbursing the $3 million allocated by the government for this purpose, fearing that administrative red tape would delay it more than required. He also asked the Ministry of Finance to allocate a plot of land it owns in the city to rebuild a center for the State Security Service as an alternative to a center that was also destroyed by Israeli raids.

Aoun believes that the state’s return to the south “must be effective, in all fields, not just security.” The Lebanese Army is deployed in the city and its environs, as are Public Security, State Security, and Internal Security Forces, but the southerners need everything to facilitate their clinging to their land in light of the state’s current financial inability to carry out reconstruction.

The relationship with Hezbollah... rupture and pitfalls

Hezbollah’s boycott of Aoun’s visit to Nabatieh, and its subsequent defamation, was merely another manifestation of the existing rift with the party, which Aoun accuses of “lack of flexibility” in approaching the issues at hand, and his failure to take into account the interest of the Shiite environment, which paid a huge price in terms of the lives of their people, their property, and the infrastructure in the areas in which they live. What is noteworthy is that Aoun’s relationship with the party, since he was commander of the army, was based on “advice” and warnings that the party did not heed. Beginning with the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation and the party’s entry into it, then with Iran’s support last March. Both times, Aoun conveyed to the party the necessity of not engaging in the war. But the party did not respond.

The last of these contacts was with “Ali Al-Taher,” the site where Aoun was able to obtain from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio an Israeli agreement not to advance towards him, in exchange for the deployment of the army there. That day, the party responded through one of the mediators with a conditional yes on the army not entering the tunnels, and without assertiveness through another mediator, before the language of rejection prevailed on both sides later.

Until now, Aoun has not understood why the party preferred to hand over the site to the Israelis rather than handing it over to the Lebanese army, with all that this choice meant in terms of preserving the city of Nabatieh and its surrounding towns.

Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on Tuesday that the recovery of hundreds of bodies from under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes on Gaza during the war that broke out nearly three years ago once again raises fears that war crimes may have been committed there.

He added that the remains of what appear to be entire families are being recovered from sites destroyed by Israeli attacks, and that there are many dead women and children. He said in a statement: “It is tragic that the worst fears of the loved ones of those who have been missing for a long time have now been confirmed.”

He noted that the discovery of more remains revived concerns raised in a UN report issued in 2024, which concluded that Israeli strikes on residential buildings and other civilian sites during the first weeks of the war may have violated international humanitarian law.

Israel has repeatedly rejected the accusations leveled against it of deliberately targeting civilians, and said that it acted in accordance with international law while fighting Hamas militants in Gaza.

A US-brokered ceasefire ended widespread fighting in October 2025, but failed to stop repeated Israeli strikes. The two sides exchange accusations of violating the ceasefire.

Widespread destruction in Gaza

The Palestinian Civil Defense said that the bodies and remains of more than 630 people have been recovered from under destroyed buildings in Gaza since November 2025, and Palestinian authorities estimate that more than thousands of people continue to exist under the rubble.

Turk expressed his fears that the remains recovered so far are “just the tip of the iceberg,” noting that large parts of Gaza were completely destroyed in the Israeli bombing or in the demolition and removal operations that followed.

He also accused Israel of continuing to destroy some areas of Gaza where its forces are still deployed, saying that bulldozers are working “without any respect for the dead under the rubble.”

Israeli statistics indicated that a Hamas attack on Israel in 2023 resulted in the killing of 1,200 people and the taking of 251 hostages to Gaza.

Health authorities in the Gaza Strip said that more than 73,000 Palestinians were killed in the military campaign launched by Israel against Gaza in response to the Hamas attack on it.

Israel says it has made great efforts to avoid civilian casualties, and that Hamas is using civilians in densely populated areas in Gaza as human shields, an accusation that the Palestinian movement denies.

Turk called for international investigators to be allowed access to all parts of Gaza to help preserve evidence, noting that legal procedures are underway to examine behavior during the war.

Turk's statement said that Israel prevented the entry of heavy machinery needed to remove the rubble, and Francesca Albanese, the United Nations expert on the Palestinian territories, said that evidence should be collected and the remains of the victims identified before the complete removal of the rubble begins.

The Palestinian Civil Defense said this month that the bodies and remains of 96 people were recovered from one site in the Zaytoun area of ​​Gaza City, including 58 children and 23 women.