Israeli airstrikes targeted nearly a dozen branches of a Hezbollah-run financial institution that the IDF says helps to fund terror operations.
The branches of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, or “the benevolent loan,” were located across southern Lebanon and in the capital of Beirut. While some individuals maintain their savings with the institution, Israel says Hezbollah uses it to store hundreds of millions of dollars.
Israel issued evacuation warnings ahead of the airstrikes, and there have been no reports of casualties.
“Overnight, the IAF conducted a series of targeted, intelligence-based strikes against dozens of facilities and sites used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to finance its terrorist activities against the State of Israel. The strikes were conducted in the areas of Beirut, southern Lebanon, and deep within Lebanese territory,” the IDF said in a statement.
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“These funds, which Hezbollah used for terror activities, were stored by the Al-Qard al-Hassan Association, which directly funds Hezbollah’s terror activities, including the purchase weapons and payments to operatives in Hezbollah’s military wing. The Hezbollah terrorist organization stores billions of dollars in the association’s branches, including money that was directly held under the name of the terrorist organization,” the statement continued.
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The institution, which has more than 30 branches across Lebanon, tried to reassure customers ahead of the strikes, saying it had evacuated all its branches and relocated gold and other deposits to safe areas.
Israel’s announcement came a day after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called civilian casualties in Lebanon “far too high” in the Israel-Hezbollah war, and urged Israel to scale back some strikes, especially in and around Beirut.
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Iran supports the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, and the United States is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents indicating that Israel was moving military assets into place for a military strike in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1, according to three U.S. officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
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The Associated Press and Trey Yingst contributed to this report.