Hezbollah to pay total of $50 million
6/12/2024 5:59
Hezbollah has paid out more
than $50 million in cash gifts to families affected by war with
Israel, its leader Naim Qassem said on Thursday, as the
Iran-backed group seeks to shore up its support base after a
devastating conflict with Israel.
The payments of between $300 and $400 per person will total
more than $77 million when paid out to all 233,500 families who
registered, Qassem said in a recorded speech, thanking Iran for
its financing of the effort alongside Hezbollah.
Hezbollah will also provide a lump sum of $8,000 to those
whose primary homes were destroyed in the war, and $6,000 for a
year of rent for those living in Beirut or its suburbs and
$4,000 for those living outside the capital until they can move
back home, he said. The payments would be financed mainly by
Iran, he said.
Israeli strikes have flattened swathes of Shi'ite majority
areas Hezbollah's support base call home in Beirut's southern
suburbs and southern and eastern Lebanon.
A ceasefire to the 14-month conflict took effect late last
month, though Israel has been accused by U.N., French and
Lebanese officials of violating it dozens of times.
Israel says it is enforcing the terms of the deal and also
accuses Hezbollah of breaching it.
With the guns mostly silent, Qassem said Hezbollah was
turning its focus to reconstruction.
The World Bank says nearly 100,000 homes in Lebanon were
partially or fully damaged during the conflict, amounting to
$3.2 billion in damages and losses.
The conflict began on Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah began
firing on Israel in solidarity with its ally Hamas, and then
steeply escalated in September this year.
Qassem called on "Arab brothers" and the international
community to participate in reconstruction and said Hezbollah
would work hand in hand with the Lebanese government.
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