Hezbollah offers $14,000 to rebuilt homes as a poll finds two-thirds of Shia say the war failed

Ali Damoush announced compensation for destroyed homes in Beirut, but a Statistics Lebanon survey shows the group's Shia base is drifting.

Hezbollah offers $14,000 to rebuilt homes as a poll finds two-thirds of Shia say the war failed — Hezbollah Executive Council chairman Ali Damoush presented a plan to pay families in Beirut and its southern suburbs up to $14,000 for homes destroyed in this year's war — $8,000 for furniture, $6,000 for rent — with $12,000 for families elsewhere in Lebanon [^1]. The offer does not extend to families who lost homes in the 2006 war. The money lands against a harder number. A Statistics Lebanon poll of 800 Shia adults found 42.1% expressing disappointment, anger, or concern over Hezbollah's leadership and conduct; 67.4% said the group did not achieve its war objectives, and 63.3% supported some form of agreement with Israel [^1]. Lieutenant-Colonel (res.) Moran Levavoni of the Institute for National Security Studies told the Post the rift widened in 2023, when Hezbollah chose to support Gaza at the expense of the local population [^1]. Compensation is not the same instrument as consent. Beirut's other file is Tehran's. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone on Wednesday and affirmed the need for diplomatic solutions to end regional conflicts and Israeli attacks [^2]. That call sits atop a standoff: on March 24 the Lebanese Foreign Ministry withdrew approval of designated ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani and declared him persona non grata; Tehran refused to comply, and Sheibani stayed, taking a six-month residency in August as a civilian resident [^2]. Hezbollah and the Amal Movement opposed the decision; the government held its position. Elsewhere in the past 12 hours, Colombia announced the opening of its embassy in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday, becoming the tenth country to do so — a reversal from 2024, when Gustavo Petro cut ties over the war in Gaza [^3]. And in Dublin, the Herbert Park Hotel canceled a booking for 70 rooms after learning the reservation was for representatives of 27 EU countries attending a conference on antisemitism; management asked whether the event was linked to the IDF, though it was civilian and diplomatic [^4]. The question worth holding: if 63.3% of Shia respondents back some agr