Hezbollah generates funds for activities under the guise of a non-profit: Israeli officials
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed new intelligence about Hezbollah’s financial network on Monday, as the military continues eliminating threats from Hamas and other terrorist groups.
In a Monday briefing that was posted on X, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari revealed new information about the institution Hezbollah uses to fund attacks.
“Tonight, we’re exposing Hezbollah’s financial network and how Hezbollah uses it to fund its terrorist activities,” Hagari said. “In recent years, the state of Lebanon has experienced a deep financial crisis which was exploited by Hezbollah.”
Hagari said that Hezbollah’s financial arm is Al-Qard Al-Hasan, which “provides financial services to Lebanese civilians and pays the salaries of Hezbollah’s operatives,” Hagari said.
Workers clean a street under a giant portrait of the late Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh, as smoke rises from a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Al-Qard Al-Hasan is a loan provider that is registered as a charitable non-profit in Lebanon, according to Reuters. Hagari said that the Iranian-linked financial network violates international law.
“Hezbollah’s financial network is based on two main sources of income: money from the Iranian regime, and money from the Lebanese people,” the military spokesman said. “Iran’s Quds Force is transferring money to Hezbollah from Iranian oil sold in Syria.”
“Iran also sends suitcases of cash and gold by planes to the Iranian embassy in Beirut, and then directly it goes to Hezbollah.”
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Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari speaks to the press from The Kirya, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defence, in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023. (GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Hagari also noted that Hezbollah built factories in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Turkey to generate cash to support terrorist activities.
The Israeli official argued that Hezbollah’s financial arm threatens the Lebanese economy, as bringing Iranian money into circulation devalues the Lebanese pound.
“I want to emphasize, we are not at war with the people of Lebanon,” Hagari concluded. “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.”
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Israeli soldiers operate at a location given as Southern Lebanon in this image released on October 6, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS)
The update comes three weeks after the IDF began their ground operations in Lebanon. On Sunday, the military conducted airstrikes targetting Al-Qard Al-Hasan buildings in Lebanon.
Fox News Digital’s Trey Yingst and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
