Photo by
Anthony Hershko/TPS on 5 May, 2023
Israel Strikes Hezbollah Banks Ahead of Expected Ceasefire
Jerusalem, 26 November, 2024 (TPS) -- Israeli jets struck 20 Hezbollah targets in Beirut on Tuesday, including seven sites associated with Hezbollah’s banking network, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Tuesday. The announcement came as Israel’s Security Cabinet met to discuss a two-month ceasefire.
The Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association (AQHA), associated with terror-funding and money laundering, was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in 2007.
The IDF said the strikes, in the Dahieh district of Beirut, a Shi’ite stronghold, targeted the “headquarters, storage facilities, and branches of the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, which are used by Hezbollah to collect and store its terrorist funds.”
In comments to The Press Service of Israel after Israel struck 20 AQHA branches in October, a senior figure in the Israeli intelligence community described AQAH as “one of the largest centers of economic power for the Iranian proxy.”
She also suggested that its competition with the Lebanese banking sector contributed to the country’s economic instability, while Hezbollah benefitted from a parallel, unregulated financial system.
On Thursday, Israel’s Defense Ministry slapped sanctions on 24 of AQHA’s major depositors due to their involvement in terror funding.
Established in 1982, AQAH expanded significantly to 34 branches against the backdrop of Lebanon’s economic crisis. It specializes in providing microloans to Lebanon’s Shiite community, which predominantly supports Hezbollah. These loans serve various needs, from wedding expenses to agricultural development and solar energy farms.
By further financing hospitals, schools, housing and other Hezbollah social services in areas where traditional banking services are inaccessible or distrusted, AQAH bolstered Hezbollah’s ability to act as a “state within a state.”
According to Israeli officials, AQAH is believed to handle approximately $500 million in transactions each year, with a total turnover of $3.5 billion recorded before 2019. The group’s financial activities have drawn scrutiny due to suspected connections with Iran, which is a major financier of Hezbollah.
In addition to providing loans, the bank allegedly serves as a means of laundering funds for terrorism-related activities.
After the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, Hezbollah began launching rockets and launching drones at northern Israel communities daily. More than 68,000 residents of northern Israel are displaced from their homes. Hezbollah leaders have repeatedly said they would continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
