Hizbullah gives rent money to owners of destroyed houses

The Daily Star - Business Articles - Hizbullah gives rent money to owners of destroyed houses: "'Every house owner who lost his house will receive $12,000, and every tenant will receive $8,000' the worker told The Daily Star as he was overseeing the distribution of the money on Friday.

He said that the party is paying each citizen who lost his house $8,000 to buy furniture and another $4,000 to cover one year's rent, until the original houses are rebuilt.

'They will move their new furniture to their new houses afterward,' he said.

As for those living in the heart of the extremely damaged areas of Haret Hreik, Mouawwad, Sfeir and Roueiss, residents started to receive their compensation on Friday at the Hizbullah-run Al-Shahed school, near the airport road.

'People present their applications to any of nine pre-designated schools in the southern suburbs. We process their applications and then they come here and get paid,' the Hizbullah worker said."

If U.S. or Israeli officials are surprised that Hizballah emerges from this war with popularity and following intact then they need to examine their own assumptions going into this war. See this Tony Shadid column for on-the-ground reporting.