Lebanese PM stresses his country's need for International support for reconstruction

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed Thursday that his country needs more than $5 billion to rebuild what was destroyed by the recent Israeli aggression, including two billion and one hundred million dollars to rebuild and rehabilitate more than 100,000 homes and housing units, and the rest to rehabilitate vital facilities damaged by the bombing, such as water pumping stations, hospitals, schools and communication towers.Mikati said, in a speech during the 11th summit of the Developing Eight Organization for Economic Cooperation held in Cairo, that the number of Lebanese killed in the recent Israeli aggression exceeded 4,000, including 290 children, 790 women and 241 health and ambulance workers, and more than 14,000 wounded.He added that the aggression also caused the displacement of more than one million people from their homes, stressing that Lebanon relies heavily on support to be able to rise again and overcome the great difficulties it faces, starting with addressing the repercussions of the recent Israeli aggression.He said that Lebanon has begun the process of surveying the damage, noting that the estimates of the cost of the war on the economy, environment and agriculture are much higher, especially since the aggression caused the burning of thousands of hectares of agricultural land, and the destruction of the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of citizens and their displacement from their villages and cities, in the largest displacement in the history of the country.The Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister also considered that the real gateway to starting development begins with respecting international legitimacy and implementing relevant laws, treaties and resolutions, starting with international humanitarian law and pressuring the Israeli entity that continues its aggression that has not only stopped the wheel of development in Lebanon, but has also set many sectors back many years.In his speech, Najib Mikati stressed that development can only be achieved by stopping destructive wars, withdrawing occupying armies, achieving justice for peoples, determining their destiny, gaining their independence, and extending their sovereignty over all their territories.Earlier Thursday, a number of heads of state and governments of the G8 developing countries participated in the opening of their 11th summit in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.