Hezbollah announced a new financial assistance program for Lebanese families whose homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable during its latest war with Israel, offering payments of up to $14,000 per household in a move that could help ease hardship among its traditional support base as questions persist over the source of the funds and the group’s ability to deliver them.

Ali Daamoush, head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, unveiled the initiative, titled “A Promise and a Commitment,” at a news conference in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday. He said eligible families in Beirut and its southern suburbs would receive up to $14,000, while those in other parts of Lebanon would qualify for up to $12,000.

The assistance includes $8,000 for furniture and a rental allowance of $6,000 for families in Beirut and its southern suburbs and $4,000 for those elsewhere. Payments will be made in four installments over one year, with the first installment totaling $3,500 for households in Beirut and its southern suburbs and $3,000 for those in other areas.

Daamoush said the program was intended to help people whose homes had been destroyed, severely damaged or deemed uninhabitable following technical assessments, as well as those displaced from Israeli-occupied border villages and nearby areas. The affected property must have served as the family’s primary residence, and beneficiaries must not own an alternative home. Summer houses and abandoned properties are excluded.

Families who received housing and furniture assistance after the September 2024 war will qualify only for rental payments if they do not have another home. Eligibility and the type of assistance will depend on criteria assessing the damage to each property.

Hezbollah will establish centers where families can submit their cases for review and receive compensation, Daamoush said. He did not disclose how many households would benefit, the total cost of the program or the source of its funding.

The initiative does not cover destroyed shops and businesses, leaving out families who lost both their homes and the businesses that provided their livelihoods.

An Aid Program With Political Stakes

The announcement comes as Hezbollah faces growing pressure over its military role, its weapons and its future in Lebanon. The group has been significantly weakened by successive wars with Israel since October 2023, while U.S. sanctions on Iran and Hezbollah and tighter Lebanese oversight of the group’s financial networks and supply routes have added to the challenges surrounding its funding.

Political analyst Ali Al-Amin told Asharq Al-Awsat that the assistance had both political and popular dimensions. Hezbollah, he said, understands that its arsenal and military activities have become central questions for its future and that maintaining support within its own community is increasingly important as signs of discontent emerge.

The program appears intended in part to contain anger among displaced families and others affected by the fighting, while reinforcing Hezbollah’s claim that it continues to stand by its supporters. It also signals defiance toward the Lebanese government and Washington, which has sought to cut off the group’s funding.

Al-Amin said the announced payments, although limited and spread over a year, could still make a difference to families facing difficult circumstances.

He compared the assistance with payments Hezbollah made after the 2006 war, when households received between $12,000 and $14,000 in a single installment. Although the nominal amounts are similar today, their purchasing power has declined significantly amid rising rents and higher living costs, he said.

Following the 2024 war, Hezbollah initially provided rental assistance for a limited period before the payments stopped when fighting resumed. Some affected residents also received checks they were unable to cash, Al-Amin said. He added that the assistance announced at the end of 2024 had ceased for most families, with support reportedly continuing only for people close to the group and its political supporters.

The current program is Hezbollah’s first new public housing assistance initiative since it entered the latest regional conflict in support of Iran.

Funding Remains Unclear as U.S. Questions Iran’s Ability to Pay

The announcement comes amid uncertainty over Hezbollah’s access to the money needed to fund the program.

Reuters reported last week, citing two people with direct knowledge of the transfer, that Hezbollah had received $200 million from Iran to help displaced Lebanese families. The United States has disputed Tehran’s ability to deliver such funds to the group.

U.S. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told the Lebanese news outlet This Is Beirut last week that the money Hezbollah had promised to distribute did not exist. If the funds were in Iran, he said, U.S. efforts to sever the Iranian government’s ties with its regional proxies would prevent them from reaching Hezbollah.

Asked about the remarks, Daamoush dismissed Washington’s criticism.

“We are not concerned about what the American administration says,” he said. “We are working to serve our people and will do all we can to give them shelter so that they go back to their normal life.”

Hezbollah has received billions of dollars and weapons from Iran over several decades, but Daamoush offered no details about the financing of the new initiative.

The group announced a similar assistance package worth $77 million after the previous war with Israel, which followed its opening of a support front for Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023. A ceasefire was declared in November 2024.

In December 2024, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said most of that assistance would take the form of a cash contribution from Iran, thanking Tehran for its “generous support.” The latest announcement comes despite continued U.S. sanctions on Iran and efforts by Lebanese authorities to restrict Hezbollah’s access to funding and weapons.

Hezbollah Blames Government for Reconstruction Shortfall

Alongside unveiling the aid program, Daamoush accused the Lebanese State of failing to fulfill its responsibilities toward displaced residents. He said the government had not yet introduced a program to provide direct assistance or established a comprehensive official mechanism for compensation.

“Reconstruction and providing shelter for displaced people are the responsibility of the State,” he said, adding that the issue should be kept out of political calculations.

His demand places Hezbollah at the center of a broader political contradiction. The group entered the war without consulting the government, while continuing to reject state decisions aimed at placing all weapons under official control. Its critics argue that the state should not be left to bear the financial consequences of a war it did not choose.

The Lebanese government, meanwhile, faces mounting demands to help displaced families and rebuild areas damaged by the fighting, despite the scale of the destruction and the limits of available public resources.

Al-Amin said the shortfall in government assistance could increase the significance of Hezbollah’s payments. Families in need, he argued, may see even limited aid as preferable to receiving no assistance at all, giving the group an opportunity to strengthen its political standing and demonstrate its continued connection to its social base.

But the program’s eligibility rules could also generate resentment. Al-Amin warned that excluding large numbers of affected residents could leave them feeling unfairly treated, particularly those who lost homes or livelihoods but do not meet the criteria.

The decision to distinguish between eligible and ineligible households, he said, could deepen disappointment and trigger further protests and objections within communities already struggling with the consequences of the war.