NEW DELHI: Israel has claimed to find a hidden bunker of Hezbollah with millions of dollars in gold and cash as it declassified intelligence on Hezbollah’s financial network beneath a hospital in Lebanon, and the way in which it is used to fund its activities, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.
During a televised briefing shared over X (formerly Twitter), the IDF spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari, claimed that the Israeli Air Force carried out a “series of precise strikes on this Hezbollah’s financial stronghold,” Al-Qard Al-Hassan, on Monday, after calling on Lebanese citizens to “move out of arm’s way” from its facilities across Lebanon.
“Our strikes will degrade Hezbollah’s ability to finance its attacks on Israelis. Tonight, I am going to declassify intelligence on a site that we did not strike — where Hezbollah has millions of dollars in gold and cash — in Hassan Nasrallah’s bunker. Where is the bunker located? Directly under Al-Sahel Hospital in the heart of Beirut,” he informed.
The main target of the Israeli military, according to Hagari, was “an underground vault, with millions of dollars of cash and gold, which was being used to finance Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel.” The vault was “deliberately located under a residential building,” he added.
At least 15 branches of Al-Qard Al-Hasan were hit late Sunday in the southern neighbourhoods of Beirut, across southern Lebanon and in the eastern Bekaa Valley, news agency AP reported.
The Al-Qard Al-Hassan violates international law, and is “santioned by the United States and other Western countries,” he underlined at the beginning of his address.
“The IDF will not allow Hezbollah to regroup and rearm – not only is this Iranian money used to kill Israelis – it also threatens the Lebanese economy. If Hezbollah continues to smuggle Iranian money into Lebanon in dollars, it devalues the Lebanese pound, making the economy crisis in Lebanon even worse,” Hagari asserted.
Showcasing a graphic of the area surrounding the hospital, Hagari claimed: “The infrastructure contains… the ability to direct combat from underground. Hezbollah built this bunker directly underneath this hospital. There are hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold inside the bunker right now.
Calling on the Lebanese government, and the international organisations, the IDF spokesperson warned: “Don’t allow Hezbollah to use the money for terror and to attack Israel. The Israeli Air Force is monitoring the compound, as you can see.”
“However, we will not strike the hospital itself. We are not at war with the people of Lebanon. We are at war with Hezbollah, and we will continue to operate against Hezbollah so that the residents of northern Israel will be able to return to their homes in safety and security,” he affirmed.
Describing the two sources of income for the group, Hagari said that the Hezbollah is funded mainly by “money from the Iranian regime, and money from the Lebanese people.”
He alleged that the financial mechanisms of the group include cash transfers through Syria, and gold sent to the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, which directly goes to Hezbollah. Moreover, according to IDF intelligence, factories operated by Hezbollah in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Turkey are allegedly used to generate income to support its activities. The Lebanese group’s Unit 4400, responsible for the management of the network, was operated by Jafar Ksir, also known as Sheikh Salah, before he was eliminated by the Israeli troops in a “precise strike in Beirut” in the beginning of October, Hagari claimed.
Late Monday, Israel said that it has plans to carry out more strikes against the institution, AP reported. Israeli airstrikes have pounded large areas of Lebanon over the past weeks, forcing over a million people to flee their homes, according to the report. Hezbollah, on the other hand, has been launching rockets into Israel nearly every day since Hamas’ deadly raid into Israel in October last year that fuelled the war in Gaza.
Agencies