Posted on 10/21/24
| News Source: Times of Israel
Israeli airstrikes targeted branches of an association accused of financing the Hezbollah terror group late Sunday and early Monday, as Israel appeared to expand its campaign against the Iran-backed group and degrade its ability to fund operations.
At least 11 strikes were reported in Beirut’s southern suburbs, with more attacks tallied in southern Lebanon and the northeastern Beqaa Valley region, all Hezbollah strongholds, as panicked civilians tried to reach shelter.
Most of the strikes targeted branches of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, an unlicensed gray-market bank seen as one of the group’s main sources of cash.
The IDF said Monday morning that its fighter jets hit “dozens of Hezbollah facilities and sites” overnight used to finance its activities in Beirut, southern Lebanon, and “deep within Lebanese territory.”
The funds were “stored by the Al-Qard al-Hassan Association,” the military said, which holds billions of dollars for Hezbollah. The IDF said that ahead of the strikes, “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including advance warnings issued via different platforms to the civilian population in the area.”