AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The Israeli regime has earmarked emergency funds worth nearly $1 billion to accommodate settlers displaced because of attacks by the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.
Israel’s Finance Ministry said on Sunday the regime’s cabinet had approved an expansion of 3.4 billion shekels ($923 million) in this year’s budget to help fund evacuees until the end of 2024.
It said that the new budget adjustment will be submitted to the Israeli parliament as soon as possible.
The measure came hours after Hezbollah launched extensive missile and drone attacks on key targets in north of the occupied Palestine and other areas controlled by the Israeli regime.
The attacks were the largest since Hezbollah began its operations against Israel in October just after the regime invaded the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Hezbollah’s early Sunday attacks were meant to respond to an Israeli airstrike last month that killed the group’s top military commander in a building in southern Beirut.
Nearly 60,000 Israeli settlers have fled their homes because of Hezbollah attacks, forcing the regime in Tel Aviv to house them in hotels and temporary accommodations deep inside the occupied territories.
Hezbollah insists it will end its attacks on Israeli positions only when the regime stops its brutal war on Gaza.
Israel has suffered huge economic losses because of its war in Gaza and its confrontation with regional resistance groups like Hezbollah.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is known for his extremist support for the Gaza war, said on Sunday that the additional funding approved for settlers displaced by Hezbollah attacks would not add to the regime’s budget deficit this year.
That comes as reports in July indicated that the Israeli regime was facing a budget deficit of 8.1% of its gross domestic target because of its increasing military expenditures.
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