In the battered Al Hosh neighbourhood of Tyre, the groan of excavators tearing through rubble and mangled steel breaks the stillness of an otherwise quiet day. Tall residential buildings - many now hollowed out and collapsing - cast long shadows over streets that were once full of life.

Just eight months ago, this ancient port city, one of the world’s oldest continually inhabited places, was nearly emptied as Israeli warplanes pounded southern Lebanon in a devastating bombing campaign.

Today, washing lines flutter in the breeze, a few cars weave slowly through obstructed roads, and corner shops have cautiously reopened.

Although life has returned to Tyre, the crumpled buildings and damaged facades remain unchanged since a shaky ceasefire came into force last November.

The scene here is not unique – it can be seen across southern Lebanon, in the eastern Bekaa Valley and in parts of Beirut.

As people attempt to rebuild their lives, a daunting question with no clear answer looms: who will rebuild Lebanon? With no solid reconstruction plan in place and international funding slow to materialise – in stark comparison to the aftermath of the 2006 war – communities remain in limbo, unable to rebuild their homes and worried that war will break out again.

“There isn’t any money, that’s the issue,” says Rima, a resident of Al Hosh, representing a sentiment common across the country.

Others believe the delay is strategic.

"It was a message," said another resident of Hosh, whose family villa remains standing, but estimates 50 per cent of the area is not.

"This time you can't rebuild until we get what we want."

The physical scars of war are visible, but the political and economic wounds run deeper. Today, Lebanon faces a monumental task: not just to restore buildings and infrastructure, but to reimagine a future after yet another cycle of destruction.

The assault on Al Hosh was just one part of a full-scale ground and air attack launched on Lebanon by Israel in its alleged pursuit of Hezbollah. The 14-month war killed more than 4,000 people, displaced more than 1.2 million, and caused billions of dollars in damage to a country already steeped in economic crises and institutional decay.

New leadership in Lebanon, led by President Joseph Aoun, who was appointed in January, has renewed hope of a new era for the country - but the government faces a daunting task ahead.

In March, the World Bank said reconstruction and recovery needs in Lebanon are estimated at US$11 billion.

It assessed that the economic cost of the conflict on Lebanon is US$14 billion; the damage to physical assets amounted to US$6.8 billion and the war caused US$7.2 billion in economic losses to the country.

Some US$4.6 billion of the damage costs were to the housing sector alone – with around 100,000 housing units partially or fully damaged, the World Bank said. Of the hundreds of thousands of people displaced, more than 43 per cent had still not been resettled by early 2025.

Although a ceasefire was agreed between Hezbollah and Israel in November, Israel's continued occupation of five points of Lebanese territory and daily bombardments of the country - including a strike on Beirut in April - show how deeply unstable the situation remains.

“Who’s going to reconstruct the south and other areas affected by the war?” asked Walid Joumblatt, one of Lebanon's most influential politicians, in an interview with The National.

“We need foreign help. We don’t have enough resources here to cover the terrible damage and destruction done by the Israeli army during the year and a half,” he said.

Southern Lebanon suffered some of the heaviest destruction during the recent war, with satellite imagery exposing the extent of the damage.

In towns such as Kfar Kila, Aatay ech-Chaab and Aadaysseh in the Marjayoun district, more than 55 per cent of buildings have been damaged. While these are relatively small communities, the sheer scale of destruction is staggering. In Kafr Killa, for example, 1,023 out of the existing 1,562 buildings have been damaged, representing just over 65 per cent destruction. 

Estimated damage costs in the southern governorate of Nabatieh alone had reached $156 million by November 2024 - a figure expected to rise significantly.

The impact extends beyond buildings.

Agriculture is a cornerstone of the southern economy, employing hundreds of thousands of people. The olive oil industry alone accounts for 7 per cent of Lebanon’s agricultural GDP and sustains around 110,000 farmers.

This vital sector has been hit hard by Israeli air strikes on farmland. The Lebanese Ministry of Environment also reported a sharp rise in phosphorus levels up to 900 times above safe limits in areas targeted by white phosphorus munitions.

The environmental damage is especially devastating given the region’s significance: southern Lebanon is home to nearly 12 million olive trees, with farmland here representing almost one quarter of the country’s agricultural land.

“It’s definitely not the state,” said a senior humanitarian official, when asked who would rebuild Lebanon.

“It's grim. We're going to rebuild, with no money, with our hands,” they added sarcastically, illustrating the severity of the situation.

Paula Yacoubian, who was elected to parliament in 2018 and is often seen as the first truly independent MP without affiliation to the old powers that traditionally ruled the country, said the Lebanese could not rebuild on their own.

“They don't have the funding. We are in a financial meltdown. There are no funds to rebuild,” she said.

Hezbollah, whose heartlands bore the largest brunt of the war, has already begun distributing limited aid to tens of thousands of people affected - but has put the onus on the state to reconstruct.

“Rebuilding is not the responsibility of Hezbollah," said Hassan Fawaz, whose home in a village in southern Lebanon was destroyed along with his sister's house in Beirut's southern suburbs.

"They cannot afford it with everything that happened in Syria and the border,” he said, referring to the fall of former president Bashar Al Assad in December, which weakened Iran's grip on its proxies, including Hezbollah, in the region.

Asked how the family will rebuild their homes, Mr Fawaz said “I have no idea”.

Even before the war - which broke out in parallel with Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, when Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians - the country was already grappling with one of the worst economic crises in modern history.

Its currency has plunged by more than 95 per cent in value to the US dollar. A $3 billion staff-level agreement was signed with the International Monetary Fund in 2022, but was contingent on a series of reforms that were never implemented and has therefore not come into effect.

“From a macroeconomic perspective, the impacts of the conflict have resulted in Lebanon’s real GDP contracting by 7.1 per cent in 2024, a significant setback compared to a no-conflict growth estimated at 0.9 per cent,” the World Bank said.

“By the end of 2024, Lebanon’s cumulative GDP decline since 2019 approached 40 per cent, compounding the effects of the multipronged economic downturn and impacting Lebanon’s prospects for economic growth.”

The dire economic state Lebanon finds itself in means it has had to look outside for help, but, for some time, the country has been lacking in international friends.

In April, Lebanon's Finance Minister Yassine Jaber said he obtained preliminary approval from the World Bank to increase the value of a loan for reconstruction from $250 million to $400 million. The World Bank said it is also working to create a $1 billion fund for reconstruction efforts in the country.

After meeting World Bank officials, Mr Jaber said the government was committed “to a bold and courageous reform programme”.

“We are not undertaking these reforms to satisfy the IMF or anyone else. … We are doing them because we need them.”

In 2006, following the previous major war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese government estimated that 30,000 homes were destroyed or damaged. Dozens of bridges and roads were shattered by Israeli strikes.

Some $1.1 billion was accrued in direct damages to economic infrastructure and damage to residential buildings was valued at $1.7 billion. Another $2.2 billion was lost from the economic fallout.

At the time, the government could count on billion-dollar packages from the Gulf and the international community but nations in the region have been hesitant to pledge funds so far, having stepped away in recent years amid a perceived strengthening of Iran's grip on Lebanese affairs through its proxy Hezbollah.

In 2006, some $2.3 billion in donor pledges were accrued, including around $1.2 billion from western countries in the weeks after the war.

Even before the war ended, Saudi Arabia gave a $500 million grant, with Qatar and Kuwait each also giving $300 million.

Qatar helped by rebuilding a handful of particularly hard hit population centres in south Lebanon, while Saudi Arabia rebuilt around 25 villages.

Iran was also in a much better financial position - contributing around half of the $400 million needed to rebuild Beirut's southern suburbs that were devastated in 2006.

Today, the situation is vastly different. The financial collapse, blamed on decades of economic mismanagement by the Lebanese elite, has further eroded international trust. In April, Mr Jaber said the new government was seeking economic reform but warned it would take time.

Any future aid has been conditioned on widespread economic reform and a diminished Hezbollah.

“There will be no rebuilding unless the reforms are done and the illegal arms are not there anymore,” said Ms Yacoubian.

“These two conditions are very clear right now. Because the Lebanese cannot rebuild themselves, they don't have the funding, we are in a financial meltdown. There are no funds to rebuild. The only way to rebuild is by getting external support and help.”

There have been clear signs of an interest in reengagement with the new leadership in Lebanon from the international community.

The elections of President Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam earlier this year were warmly greeted - both men were not Hezbollah's preferred choices.

But tangible financial commitments have not come yet, despite the visits of high-level envoys from the US and Gulf countries.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji said the country had been clearly informed that reconstruction and aid were tied to reforms and all weapons being placed under state control.

“I think it’s both,” said the humanitarian official, when asked what was more important in terms of getting the money: the reforms or Hezbollah.

“It’s more on [Hezbollah]. Until there’s something publicly different about the status of Hezbollah ... the Europeans are not doing anything nor are the Middle Eastern countries. The Americans are just gone.”

They also pointed to wider systemic problems in Lebanon, saying that despite the country having a “new government with a fabulous mandate, the system is not helping them. The bureaucracy that just stops things.

“There’s also this fear that [the war] will continue, that rebuilding when - literally in the past two weeks – not abiding by the ceasefire from the Israeli side has been massive,” said the humanitarian official, referring to the ongoing Israeli bombardment of south Lebanon.

Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump dispatched envoy Morgan Ortagus several times to speak to Lebanon's leaders as fears persist over the extremely fragile ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.

“What’s the point of rebuilding if it’s going to be destroyed again?” they added.

The US has taken a hard-line approach in its demands, urging that Hezbollah be disarmed as quickly as possible – an incredibly sensitive, complex issue that previously would have been unthinkable even to talk about. When asked how quickly the US wanted to see this happen, Ms Ortagus simply said “as soon as possible”.

Washington has also stressed the need for economic reform.

While Lebanon has slowly begun to take steps towards financial transparency – for instance through the cabinet approving a banking secrecy law – progress is expected to be slow.

“They are starting to get it but I just hope they don't take their time,” said a source in Washington who has met with US and Lebanese officials.

“I don't think it's that the new authorities don't want to make progress. These things take time. But they aren't moving as quickly as Washington would like. I just hope they don't take too much time where there is a perpetual void."

President Aoun, a former army commander, has voiced his aim to bring all weapons under state control by the end of the year – but has insisted this must be done diplomatically.

“The Lebanese will say we need to be careful not to trigger a civil war but Washington argued 'when did it ever really end?'” said the source in Washington, in reference to the 1975-1990 Lebanese Civil War, that some argue is still ongoing.

Substantial funding is yet to come, but Gulf countries along with others such as the US have voiced optimism for Lebanon, while underlining the importance of reforms.

With Hezbollah severely weakened, there have been signs that countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, could re-engage.

Qatar, which has provided the Lebanese army with grants for fuel and salaries since 2022 continuously, and Saudi Arabia have each sent senior officials to Lebanon.

In March, Mr Aoun visited the kingdom and asked for a $3-billion aid package to the Lebanese army - paused by Riyadh since 2016 over the perceived rise in Iran and Hezbollah's grip on Lebanese affairs - to be reactivated. Despite the warming ties, it remains frozen.

Top Hezbollah officials have sought to pass the reconstruction burden to the Lebanese state, while insisting the group would play its part.

But the group, severely weakened by Israel's war, is not in the financial position it was in 2006, nor is its main backer Iran, which also lost a stronghold in Syria with the deposing of Mr Al Assad.

In late April, Hezbollah's Secretary-General Naim Qassem said “the Lebanese state must begin to commit to its duty of reconstruction” while cautioning against tying rebuilding to disarming Hezbollah.

On April 28, he ramped up pressure on the Lebanese government, questioning why the state had taken so long to formulate a reconstruction plan. “The government has been very late in reconstruction ... and this is its duty,” he said in a televised speech.

The irony on the ground is that Hezbollah – bruised, under pressure and in a highly delicate state – is still providing support to Lebanese people on the ground.

The party's construction wing has dispatched engineers to assess damaged areas, which predominantly – but not completely – include neighbourhoods from where Hezbollah traditionally draws support.

It has introduced an aid package of up to $14,000 per household affected to cover rent and damaged possessions. These packages, however, are not intended to cover reconstruction costs and some payments have been delayed.

In December, Hezbollah also pledged more than $77 million for 233,500 registered families, or $300 to $400 per person – and provided temporary shelter for tens of thousands of displaced people. But even the shelters, typically in the form of prefabricated buildings, have come under attack from Israel.

In January, Mr Qassem said a significant amount of the funding had come from Iran as he welcomed their “generous” financial assistance.

Mr Fawaz, who is originally from a village in south Lebanon that was severely damaged during Israel's war, never joined Hezbollah but said he grew up around it.

One of the first senior Hezbollah commanders to be killed during the war last year was commonly seen in his village and many of Mr Fawaz's childhood friends became fighters. Some were killed in the war.

Israel's attacks on the village damaged a graveyard where some of Mr Fawaz's family members were buried and one of his family's homes were completely destroyed.

Hezbollah, through its financial institution Al Qard Al Hassan, has given his family $12,000 to cover a year of rent and replace damaged possessions. Mr Fawaz said the rubble was being removed in his village to open the road by contractors paid by Hezbollah, but reconstruction was a different matter.

“I think the rebuilding will be from the state. The money will come from outside and, of course, the money will not go directly to Hezbollah. But maybe there is no money at all,” he added ruefully.

Mr Fawaz's sister, whose home in the southern suburbs of Beirut was destroyed by an Israeli attack, is renting in another district of the capital. Hezbollah has given her family $3,000 to cover rent for six months. The following six months, as well as money to cover the damage to their possessions, is still to come.

He said reconstruction support from the international community in 2006 was widespread. Mr Fawaz believes the aftermath of the 2006 war was different because there was broader support for Hezbollah against its enemy Israel. He believes this changed in 2011 when the armed group publicly joined the Al Assad regime against Sunni-led rebels in Syria.

“The fact with Hezbollah and its supporters and the Shia people is that the relationship is very, very strong, and very deep. They have our back, whatever the cost,” he said.

Rima, from Al Hosh in Tyre, also said 2025 was different to the past. Both her and Mr Fawaz believe reconstruction is a sensitive issue for Hezbollah.

“Usually, in the previous wars, Hezbollah was able to take care of the full amounts. For example, our house had over $7,000 in damages. They were only able to cover $2,000 of damages. And everyone is in that case,” she said.

“Imagine if you have a house with $50,000 in damages.

“People before, especially the supporters, used to have this idea that they would always be taken care of, no matter what. But at the end of the day, when you think about it, Hezbollah itself lost so much – including themselves.”