Lebanon’s Hezbollah has announced financial assistance of up to 14,000 dollars for families whose primary homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable during the war with Israel.
The chairman of the group’s Executive Council, Ali Damoush, announced the plan on Tuesday, saying eligible families in Beirut and its southern suburbs would receive 14,000 dollars, while those in other parts of Lebanon would get 12,000 dollars.
Under the arrangement, families in Beirut and its southern suburbs will receive 8,000 dollars for furniture and 6,000 dollars for rent. Those elsewhere in the country will receive 8,000 dollars for furniture and 4,000 dollars for rent.
The assistance will cover homes destroyed, severely damaged or declared uninhabitable following technical assessments. It will also apply to families displaced from Israeli-occupied areas and nearby locations.
However, the scheme is restricted to families whose affected properties served as their primary residences and who do not own a second home. Summer homes and abandoned properties are excluded.
Damoush said payments would be made in four instalments over one year, beginning with 3,500 dollars for eligible families in Beirut and its southern suburbs and 3,000 dollars for those elsewhere.
He added that eligibility and the type of assistance would be determined using criteria that assess the extent of damage to each property.
The announcement comes after Israeli bombardments and ground operations in Lebanon displaced hundreds of thousands of people, many of them members of Hezbollah’s Shi’ite Muslim constituency.
Hezbollah entered the regional conflict in support of Iran on March 2, days after the United States and Israel began attacks on Iran.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry has reported more than 4,300 deaths from Israeli attacks but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Last week, Reuters reported, citing two people with direct knowledge of the transfer, that Hezbollah had received 200 million dollars from Iran to support displaced Lebanese families.
The United States disputed the report, saying the money was not available, while Iran has not commented publicly on the reported transfer.
A Hezbollah official had earlier said funding had been secured and that a distribution plan would be announced, without identifying the source of the money.
