Hezbollah weakened but financially resilient a year after Israel war

One year after a devastating war with Israel dealt massive blows to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the Iran-backed movement is still managing to pay its fighters and fund its social services.

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The killing of its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli strike on September 27 last year left the group reeling, yet it has maintained cohesion under his successor, Naim Qassem. As the group faces mounting pressure to disarm, the United States has also sought to cripple its finances.

US envoy Tom Barrack said Hezbollah has been receiving “$60 million a month” since a November ceasefire.

AFP spoke to several Hezbollah members and beneficiaries of its services, all of whom said the organisation was meeting its financial commitments. They requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the subject. Fighters still receive monthly cash salaries of $500 to $700 — well above Lebanon’s minimum wage of $312.

Families of Hezbollah “martyrs” continue to receive stipends covering rent and other essentials, while the group’s vast network of schools, hospitals and charities makes it “one of the largest employers in Lebanon”, according to researcher and Hezbollah expert Joseph Daher.

Hezbollah is “definitely under political and economic pressure”, Daher said, though it is difficult to assess the depth of the impact.