Israel-Hezbollah conflict 'will cost €3.8bn to repair'

Lebanese President Emil Lahoud said today damage caused by Israeli attacks during the 34-day conflict could cost his country more than €3.8bn, as he criticised UN peacekeeping forces for arriving too slowly to oversee Israel’s military pullout.

“This will cost us a lot of money,” Lahoud told Venezuelan TV station Telesur in an interview.

“According to estimates that are being done, they say the figure will exceed $5bn (€2.6b),” he said, according to a Spanish translation of the interview, which was conducted in Arabic.