Israel attacks banks in Lebanon to damage Hezbollah's finances

Al-Qard Al-Hassan, or AQAH, has been under US sanctions since 2007. The U.S. Treasury Department described the bank as being used by Hezbollah “as a cover for controlling the terrorist group's financial activities” and “to gain access to the international financial system.”

Since then, finance officials have repeatedly accused Hezbollah of using the bank to “abuse the Lebanese financial sector and deplete Lebanon's financial resources at an already dire time,” in a country beset by a series of protracted economic and financial crises political crises.

According to local media, Al-Qard Al-Hassan has more than 30 branches across Lebanon, many of them in Beirut's predominantly Shiite southern suburbs.

Israel's attacks on the bank's branches represent an expansion of the war against Hezbollah that goes beyond what the IDF has described as targeted attacks on Hezbollah military sites.

During his briefing, Hagari said that Israeli officials would reveal “in the coming days” “how Iran finances Hezbollah's terrorist activities by using civilian institutions, associations and NGOs that act as fronts for terrorism.”

Hagari said dozens of projectiles were fired into northern Israel in the 24 hours before the Israeli military began issuing evacuation orders ahead of its attacks on Sunday evening.

In a separate statement, the IDF said Monday that Israeli soldiers continued to launch ground attacks in southern Lebanon and dismantled “large quantities of Hezbollah's weapons” while also killing Hezbollah members, including “tactical-level commanders.”

According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, at least 2,464 people, including 127 children, have been killed in Lebanon since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah began to escalate last year following the Hamas terror attack on October 7, while an estimated 1.2 million people have been displaced from their houses.