Shafaq News- Beirut
Hezbollah is close to paying shelter assistance to Lebanese displaced by this year's war with Israel, its parliamentary bloc, Loyalty to the Resistance, said on Thursday, a day after Reuters reported that the group had received $200 million from Iran for the purpose.
In a statement after its regular meeting, the bloc said Hezbollah's support for its community would remain firm and that it was nearing "a new step" to pay shelter aid to the displaced. It urged the Lebanese government to take practical steps to ease the effects of Israeli attacks on residents.
Two people with direct knowledge of the transfer told Reuters earlier that Hezbollah received the $200 million last month despite tightening US pressure on Iran. Intermediaries charged a 20% fee, four times the usual rate, because of the risks involved, one source said. The group plans an initial payment of $3,000 to each eligible family, giving priority to those whose villages were destroyed or remain inaccessible.
A Hezbollah official told Reuters that funds had been secured and a distribution plan would be announced in the coming days, without naming their source.
US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the money "is not there," accusing Hezbollah of trying to save face with "fake stories about cash influxes from Iran."
Transferring money to the group has become harder, one of Reuters' sources said, adding that the exchange firms in Iraq and Dubai were no longer viable channels and those in Turkiye were under pressure. Iran sent Hezbollah about $1 billion in the first 10 months of 2025, according to the US Treasury, which in August sanctioned 10 people accused of running a cash courier network for the group.
The war, which began on March 2 when Hezbollah fired on Israel after the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, killed more than 4,386 people in Lebanon and displaced nearly one million, according to the Health Ministry's figures in September. About 353,000 people remained displaced at the time.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has put direct material damage from the 2026 war at $3 billion to $4 billion, on top of the $6.8 billion in physical damage the World Bank estimated for the 2023–24 conflict.