Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah during a party event, on November 27, 2023, announced the beginning of the payment process to those who were affected by Israeli bombings in border villages in south Lebanon. (Credit: Hezbollah's press office)
BEIRUT – Hezbollah started paying compensation for those affected by the skirmishes that have been happening in the past weeks in the border villages of southern Lebanon, the party's MP Hassan Fadlallah was quoted by his party's statement as saying.
During a party event, Fadlallah was quoted as saying that his party is going to start to pay compensation for those who are "directly affected" by the Israeli bombings in border villages, according to a statement by the party.
Fadlallah said that while the skirmishes in the south were happening, Hezbollah was working to assess the damages in order to provide support with "as many resources as we have."
Contacted by L'Orient Today, Hezbollah MP Hassan Ezzedine (Sour district) said that the payments which will start between today and tomorrow will happen gradually with priorities to those whose houses are damaged and who live in the villages. As for those whose houses were destroyed, Ezzedine said they are gonna get paid at a later stage. "Those who live in their houses in the border villages will get priority, and things like agricultural land and houses of people who don't live in their houses will be paid after," Ezzedine said. The move according to the MP is intended to enable residents of the houses to return to their homes as soon as the conflict ends.
He explained that the amounts will vary between houses and that a committee from his party has assigned engineers who would asses how much each house repairment costs and would pay accordingly. Owners of around 1,400 houses will be paid compensation according to Ezzedine. He added that the municipalities of these villages will be involved in the process.
L'Orient Today contacted several border village residents whose houses were damaged and who said they had not been contacted yet. The head of the municipality of the south Lebanon border village of Dhaira (Sour district) told L'Orient Today that at the beginning of the skirmishes, Hezbollah contacted him and said that they would pay for damages. He told L'Orient Today on Monday that the payments in his village were not made yet "but hopefully they will happen, it just needs patience," he said.
Heavy skirmishes have been taking place since Oct. 8 between Hezbollah and the Israeli army on the Lebanese-Israeli border villages which resulted in the destruction and damage of many houses, buildings and agricultural areas.
Hezbollah has lost 86 fighters since the Al-Aqsa flood operation in Gaza on Oct. 7 which was followed the next day by skirmishes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army.
Monday marks the fourth and final day of the truce between Israel and Hamas which has been mostly applied to the Lebanese-Israeli border, with a few exceptions, despite there being no actual agreement between Hezbollah and Israel.