The strikes followed an intensified Israeli effort to disrupt Hezbollah's finances.
New Delhi: Israel on Monday said it has declassified intelligence that claimed to reveal the presence of Hezbollah’s secret financial center beneath a hospital in Beirut. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the bunker contained hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold, allegedly used to fund the group’s operations.
The revelation comes after a series of airstrikes by the Israeli Air Force on Sunday night targeting Hezbollah’s financial assets. IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagri provided detailed information during a televised briefing, saying, “Tonight, I am going to make public intelligence about a place we did not attack—where Hezbollah has millions of dollars worth of gold and cash in Hassan Nasrallah’s bunker. This bunker is located right below the Al-Sahel Hospital in the center of Beirut.”
Hagri said that despite the presence of significant financial resources, the place has not yet been attacked. “According to estimates, at least half a billion dollars worth of dollar notes and gold are stored in this bunker. This money could have been and still can be used to rebuild the Lebanese state,” he said.
Sunday night’s airstrikes targeted about 30 locations linked to Hezbollah, including sites operated by Al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH), a Hezbollah-linked financial firm. AQAH, although registered as a charity, has been accused by both Israel and the United States of acting as a vital financial arm of Hezbollah, facilitating its access to cash and gold reserves for military purposes.
Haghari claimed that one of the main targets was an underground vault containing millions of dollars in cash and gold, resources that were allegedly being used to fund attacks on Israel. Although Haghari did not clarify whether all the funds were destroyed in the attack, he said that further airstrikes could be expected, particularly by targeting additional financial centers.
The attacks followed an intensified Israeli effort to disrupt Hezbollah’s finances. According to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the campaign included more than 300 strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in a 24-hour period, including vital financial and logistics centers.
Al-Qard al-Hassan has been operating in Lebanon since the 1980s, providing loans to Lebanese citizens in exchange for gold reserves. Officially it is classified as a charity, but Israeli and US officials argue that the firm is a key asset in Hezbollah’s financial network, enabling the group to launder money and finance its activities under the guise of civilian banking.
Hagry claimed that the Lebanese people and the Iranian regime are Hezbollah’s two main sources of income. He alleged that the financial mechanisms used by the group, including cash transfers through Syria and gold smuggled into Lebanon through Iran. According to IDF intelligence, factories run by Hezbollah in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Turkey are reportedly used to generate sufficient income to support the group’s terror activities.
In a related development, Israel carried out an airstrike in Syria on Monday, targeting the head of Hezbollah’s financial unit, known as Unit 4400. This unit is primarily responsible for the flow of Iranian money to Hezbollah through proceeds from Tehran’s oil sales. According to Hagri, the unnamed commander, who had only been in this role for a few weeks, was killed in the attack.
This is the second significant killing of a Hezbollah financial figure in recent weeks. In early October, Israeli forces killed Mohammed Jaafar Ksir, also known as Sheikh Salah, the previous head of Hezbollah’s financial operations. Ksir had long overseen the group’s revenue streams, which have been integral to its military and political influence in Lebanon.
The latest Israeli operation came amid an escalation in hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, which has continued since Hezbollah launched a series of attacks in solidarity with Hamas following the October 7 attacks in 2023.
Israeli officials estimate that about 2,000 Hezbollah fighters have been killed since the conflict widened in late September 2023. Hezbollah has retaliated with rocket attacks on Israeli cities and military targets, most recently hitting an intelligence base near Tel Aviv.
Continuing the achievement of the journey of effectiveness and credibility of more than 10 years in the career of journalism, as a woman journalist, I am Serving as the founder, promoter and editor of DiaryTimes with the trust and support of all. My credible coverage may not have given a big shape to the numbers, but my journey presents articles that make you aware of the exact and meaningful situations of Himachal’s politics, ground issues related to the public, business, tourism and the difficult geographical conditions of the state and financial awareness. DiaryTimes, full of the experience of my precise editorial expertise, is awakening the flame of credible journalism among all of you, so that the eternal flame of meaningful change can be lit in the life of the people of the state and the atrocities being committed against the people can be brought to the fore, I am motivated for that. If even a small change comes with the power of my journalism and the whole world becomes a witness to that issues, then I will consider myself fortunate.
