Hezbollah has received $200 million from Iran to help Lebanese displaced by this year’s war with Israel, two people with direct knowledge of the transfer said. The cash was moved last month despite a tightening US economic chokehold on Iran and growing difficulties in getting funds to Tehran’s Lebanese ally.
Intermediaries who moved the money charged a 20% fee, reflecting the risks of dealing with the group, one source said. The fee was four times the normal rate for such transactions.
When asked for comment, a Hezbollah official said an amount had been secured and a plan for distributing it would be announced in the coming days, without elaborating on the source of the funds.
Iran has maintained financial support to Hezbollah through years of crippling US sanctions, having transferred $1 billion to the group in the first 10 months of 2025, according to the US Treasury Department. Tehran has never acknowledged financing Hezbollah.
Hezbollah would use the funds to pay an initial $3,000 per family, prioritising those whose villages have been destroyed or are inaccessible due to Israeli occupation. The sources said this could benefit around 50,000 families.
The war has displaced hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah’s Shi’ite Muslim constituents after the group entered the regional conflict in support of Iran on March 2. So far, the militia has provided little assistance to those displaced.
Hezbollah’s ability to fund local services and provide post‑conflict aid has helped shore up its support in the past. Following the 2006 war with Israel, the group immediately handed out large cash payments and helped rebuild Beirut’s southern suburbs. This time, however, there has been little sign of reconstruction, with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam estimating total reconstruction costs from the two wars since 2024 could exceed $27 billion.
Hezbollah’s foes believe money is currently the group’s “oxygen”. Despite the difficulties securing funding, the group has not stopped paying its fighters and the families of those killed in combat.
Israel’s bombardment and invasion of Lebanon have killed more than 4,300 people since March 2, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. The toll does not indicate how many combatants may be among the dead. Hezbollah has not disclosed figures on its war dead.
What follows next will be the distribution plan announced by Hezbollah in the coming days, which could provide much-needed relief to thousands of families affected by the conflict.
