Israel to spend almost $1bn to fund displaced citizens

Israel’s cabinet has approved a $923m expansion in the 2024 state budget to support evacuees until the end of the year, according to the finance ministry.

Thousands of Israelis in the north have been relocated to hotels due to daily rocket fire exchanged between Israel and Hezbollah since 8 October.

Those living near the Gaza-Israel border are also included in what the cabinet refers to as “conflict zones”.

The ministry stated that it was working to bring the budget adjustments to a vote in parliament as soon as possible.

Due to a rise in military spending, the budget deficit reached 8.1 percent of Israel’s gross domestic product in July over the past 12 months, it added