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 struggling with protracted economic and political crises has.

According to local media, Al-Qard Al-Hassan has more than 30 branches across Lebanon, many of which are located in the predominantly Shiite southern suburbs of Beirut and at least some appear to be connected to residential buildings.

Israel's attacks on the bank represent an expansion of its war against Hezbollah, going beyond what the IDF describes as targeted attacks on the group's military sites.

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.