Late Sunday night, the Israeli Defense Forces launched airstrikes on Lebanon. They targeted financial institutions that were linked to Hezbollah, a militant group supported by Iran.
The strikes were aimed at al-Qard al-Hassan in “all of Lebanon.” Al-Qard al-Hassan, a Hezbollah unit that funds terrorist activities such as paying operatives or buying weapons, is the target of these strikes.
Lebanese civils also use the registered nonprofit, which is sanctioned both by the U.S.A. and Saudi Arabia. It provides financial services.
IDF has issued evacuation orders to civilians living near these financial institutions. IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stated that the strikes would be extensive, and not only target financial centers in Beirut but also other Hezbollah-held strongholds in Lebanon.
Hagari said: “I want to emphasize that anyone who is near sites where Hezbollah funds its terror activities should leave these areas immediately.” We will hit several targets over the next few hours, and more targets through the night. We will reveal in the next few days how Iran finances Hezbollah’s terror activities through civilian associations, NGOs, and institutions that are fronts for terrorism. “We will launch these strikes tomorrow and update you on the results the following day.”
The aim is to attack the financial support Hezbollah provides for the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been going on since October 2023 when Hamas militants invaded Israel and killed nearly 1,200 people while taking hundreds of others as hostages.
Senior intelligence officials said earlier on Sunday that Hezbollah does not have all its money in these financial institutions. However, the damage to their economic capabilities is expected to be significant.
Officials noted that hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civils, mostly Shias, use this banking system. Several branches are expected to be targeted in Beirut.
Last month, after a year of increasing tensions between Israel & Hezbollah due to the Gaza war, Israel launched ground troops in Lebanon.
Israel’s announcement comes a day after U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said civilian casualties were “far too high” during the Israel-Hezbollah conflict and asked Israel to reduce some strikes in and around Beirut.
Three U.S. officials said that Iran is supporting the Hezbollah in Lebanon and that the United States was investigating the unauthorized release of classified documents which indicated Israel had been preparing for a military attack to respond to Iran’s missile attack on Oct. 1. Three U.S. officials spoke under condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
