Ministry of Finance denies reports claiming $50M allocated to those affected by war, saying amount much higher

The Ministry of Finance’s media office denied on Saturday earlier media reports claiming that the ministry had allocated only $50 million to those affected by Israeli attacks, noting that the amount is significantly higher.

"Some media outlets have published figures attributed to Finance Minister Yassine Jaber that are inaccurate, most likely due to a misunderstanding or a lack of careful follow-up of his statements and of the allocations made to assist those affected by the Israeli attacks at the health, social, relief, and other levels," the statement reads.

According to the statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency, the $50 million mentioned by those outlets refers solely to allocations from the public treasury to the Ministry of Social Affairs.

The statement added that there are also $200 million from the World Bank, 77 million euros from the European Union, tens of millions of dollars disbursed by the Ministry of Finance to the health sector through the Ministry of Health, tens of millions spent through the High Relief Commission and the Council for the South, as well as more than $130 million provided through the United Nations and humanitarian organizations.

It noted, however, that not all of these allocations, including the World Bank funding, have been fully disbursed.

According to a Reuters report published on May 21, Jaber told the news agency that the government had allocated $50 million in public funds to support more than 1 million people displaced by the war.

Despite the so-called cease-fire agreement reached on April 16 following 45 days of war between Hezbollah and Israel, fighting continues in southern Lebanon and West Bekaa, with more than 1,000 people killed in Israeli attacks since then.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has continued launching daily attacks against Israeli forces occupying and advancing in southern Lebanon, as well as against villages in northern Israel.