Lebanon PM says scale of war recovery beyond state's capacity

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Friday that rebuilding regions destroyed in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war was beyond the state's capacity, calling for funding as he visited the heavily damaged south.

"I am aware of the magnitude of the crisis" including the destruction, displacement and loss of livelihoods, Salam said in Nabatieh, a major southern city hit hard by Israeli airstrikes.

"But the scale of the needs exceeds the capacities of the Lebanese state and its ability to bear these burdens alone," Salam added. "We still need significant funding" for reconstruction, the prime minister said.

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah drew the country into the broader Middle East war in March by attacking Israel, which responded with massive airstrikes and a ground invasion.

The fighting followed another conflict that erupted in 2023 that led to an all-out war the next year. Lebanon has put the overall death toll from these conflicts at more than 8,900.

Hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced, mainly from the south, while Israel maintains troops in a self-declared "security zone" running around 10 kilometres (six miles) inside Lebanon along the border.

Last month, Salam said the estimated total cost of the two wars could exceed $27 billion.

"I am here today to affirm the return to work of state institutions," he said during Friday's visit.

Violence has decreased since a ceasefire following a US-Iran memorandum of understanding in June, while Lebanon and Israel concluded a US-sponsored framework agreement later that month.

But Nabatieh and surrounding areas in particular have seen continued Israeli attacks.

The Israel-Lebanon deal involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon's south and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as "pilot zones".

Salam said it was important to rally "all the capabilities and support we can to achieve a full Israeli withdrawal" and build a state that is the sole decision maker on war and peace.

"This is the path to avoid finding ourselves once again facing a new war or new pretexts to attack Lebanon, or a new expansion of the (Israeli) occupation," he added.

Hezbollah has rejected disarming.