Hezbollah to give displaced families up to $14,000; report cites $200 million from the Islamic Republic

Lebanon's Hezbollah, an ally of the Islamic Republic, announced on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, a plan to pay up to $14,000 to every Lebanese family whose home was destroyed in this year's war with Israel. Ali Damoush, head of Hezbollah's Executive Council, said families living in Beirut and its southern suburbs will receive $8,000 for furniture and $6,000 for rent, while families in other parts of Lebanon will receive $12,000 in total.

The aid will be paid in four instalments over one year and covers only families whose main residence was destroyed, made uninhabitable or severely damaged, or who were displaced from occupied areas. Damoush declined to disclose the total cost of the programme or where the money comes from.

$200 million from Tehran

The news agency Reuters reported last week, citing two people familiar with the transfer, that Hezbollah received $200 million from the Islamic Republic last month to help displaced families, despite growing US economic pressure. Earlier, a Hezbollah official had said that funds had been secured, without naming the source. The Islamic Republic has not commented on the report.

The US government has rejected the report and questioned the Islamic Republic's ability to provide such financial aid. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott had said the Islamic Republic's ability to send money to proxy groups has been destroyed.

Money for proxies, shortages for Iranians

The news of Hezbollah's payments comes as Iran's economy shrinks under the weight of war and sanctions. Hossein-Ali Shahriari, chairman of parliament's health committee, has said patients in some state hospitals must bring their own sheets and blankets, and about 18,000 billion tomans owed to wheat farmers is still unpaid.

Hezbollah entered the war in support of Tehran on 2 March 2026, a few days after the US and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic began. According to Lebanon's Health Ministry, Israeli strikes have since killed more than 4,300 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah's Shia supporters. After the 2024 war, the group also ran a similar programme which, according to its secretary-general Naim Qassem, was funded by Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic.

Hezbollah promises up to $14,000 to each displaced family, while patients in Iran have to bring their own blankets to hospital.