Hezbollah launches reconstruction plan, wants to begin work 'soon'

Hezbollah will soon begin reconstruction efforts and compensate residents of areas destroyed by the Israeli offensive, a source from the group has told The New Arab’s Arabic language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The source said Hezbollah, which has just come out of a devastating conflict with Israel, is eager to initiate a reconstruction plan as winter looms, often coming with heavy rain and snowfall in Lebanon.

The source said the group could not wait for the government to begin compensating citizens.

"In addition to government compensation, the resistance [Hezbollah] cannot wait, especially with the start of the winter season, and this requires it to initiate the reconstruction plan…" they said.

A US-brokered ceasefire came into effect last week, ending more than a year of fighting. Israel dramatically escalated attacks on Lebanon in September, turning a low-level conflict into a full-scale war.

The areas most affected by Israeli attacks were majority-Shia regions, including southern Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa region, and Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The war forced more than a million Lebanese people out of their homes. Some have managed to return since the truce was agreed, while others continue to live in shelters, rent homes if they have the financial means, or have moved to Syria and Iraq.

This is expected to put additional pressure on Hezbollah as the vast majority of displaced and those directly impacted hail from areas where it has a presence.

Hezbollah secretary-general Naim Qassem said during a speech on Thursday that 1.1 million displaced persons continued to face difficulties, promising that the group would provide financial support and shelter to those who have lost their homes.

Hezbollah will provide a lump sum of $8,000 to those whose primary homes were destroyed in the war, and $6,000 for a year of rent for those living in Beirut or its suburbs and $4,000 for those living outside the capital until they can move back home, Qassem said.

The payments would be financed mainly by Iran, he said.

Financial losses

Hezbollah has long acted outside of Lebanese state control, with some considering it to be a "state within a state," running a vast social safety network with schools and hospitals, as well as its own military arsenal.

The financial losses from the war have varied between different local and global institutions, but it is believed to be more than $8 billion – significantly more than losses incurred after the 2006 war, which were estimated at around $3 billion.

But other initial estimates put the total losses at more than $15 billion all together, spanning different sectors including infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, private and public institutions, schools, places of worship, heritage sites and more.

The World Bank says nearly 100,000 homes in Lebanon were partially or fully damaged during the conflict, amounting to $3.2 billion in damages and losses.

The Hezbollah source told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed said committees have been formed to work in separate sectors in affected regions, the source added, except those still "under Israeli threat", in reference to parts of south Lebanon.

Daily warnings

Since the ceasefire came into effect, Israel has issued daily warnings to people against approaching a border zone of about 70 towns and villages, claiming it will remain there for the 60-day period as it continues to comb the area for Hezbollah installations.

A number of civilians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, shelling and gunfire in a series of ceasefire violations, expected to be curbed once an international monitoring committee begins its work this week, tasked with overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire deal.

The Hezbollah source said the group cannot tolerate the continuous Israeli violations.

"All eyes are on the committee monitoring and supervising the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the role it will play in putting an end to these violations that cannot be tolerated for much longer," the source told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

They added that Hezbollah is "ready to respond to attacks…if the enemy [Israel] persists."

Israel dealt Hezbollah heavy blows in September, with pager and walkie-talkie attacks killing and injuring thousands of the group’s fighters and much of its senior command structure killed in airstrikes.

Analysts believe these blows pressured the group into accepting a ceasefire that saw it make concessions.

The Lebanese government has announced that it has begun reconstruction efforts, especially with fixing roads and other infrastructure severely damaged.

On Wednesday, the Public Works and Transport Ministry said most roads and border crossings into Syria have been reopened.

The Energy and Water Ministry said it was surveying damages to water infrastructure and solar energy systems, estimated at around $200 million. Lebanese in recent years have resorted to renewable energy sources after the collapse of the state-run electricity sector.

Lebanon has reeled under a crushing financial meltdown since 2019. The war has put a further strain on government spending.

Western and Arab countries have expressed readiness to help Lebanon rebuild, but observers say these will only come with strict conditions: electing a president and carrying out proper economic and administrative reforms to root out corruption.

Disarming militias also seem to be part of the conditions set. The ceasefire deal stipulates that all armed groups hand over their weapons to the state.