Israel launches airstrikes on Beirut, saying it targets Hezbollah's financial arm: NPR

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday.

Hussein Malla/AP

Hide caption

Toggle label

Hussein Malla/AP

BEIRUT – The Israeli military said Sunday it is now targeting the financial arm of Lebanon-based Hezbollah and will strike a “large number of targets” in Beirut and elsewhere. About an hour later, explosions occurred in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Evacuation warnings affected southern Beirut, the eastern Bekaa Valley and parts of southern Lebanon. An AP video showed strikes near Lebanon's only airport, which remained operational.

The attacks target al-Qard al-Hassan “across Lebanon,” a senior Israeli intelligence official said. Al-Qard al-Hassan is a Hezbollah unit used to pay operatives of the Iran-backed militant group and help purchase weapons. the official said on condition of anonymity in accordance with Army regulations.

The registered non-profit organization, sanctioned by the US and Saudi Arabia, offers financial services and is also used by ordinary Lebanese. Its name means “the benevolent credit” in Arabic, and Hezbollah has used it to consolidate its support among the Shiite population in a country where government and financial institutions have failed in recent years.

“This is a big deal,” said David Asher, an illicit financing expert who has worked at the U.S. Defense and State Departments and is now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

“AQAH is a cash-based organization. “The cash will be garbage in case of strikes,” he said, adding that it had large accounts in major Lebanese banks.

Al-Qard al-Hassan called the decision to target it a sign of Israel's “bankruptcy” in a statement and assured customers that it had taken “measures” to ensure the safety of their funds. A stream of people left the areas around the branches in Beirut.

In an evacuation notice for the Choueifat area south of Beirut, the Israeli military misidentified a target, causing confusion and panic. The location was called the Grand Cinema ABC Verdun, a theater in an upscale shopping center in central Beirut, more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) away.

A year of escalating tensions and frequent cross-border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah over the Gaza war turned into all-out war last month. Israel sent ground troops to Lebanon earlier this month.

Israel's announcement came a day after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called civilian casualties in Lebanon in the war between Israel and Hezbollah “far too high” and called on Israel to scale back some attacks, particularly in and around Beirut.

According to the Lebanese army, three soldiers were killed in an Israeli attack

Israel has stepped up attacks on the southern neighborhoods of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, a crowded residential area where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It is also home to many civilians not affiliated with the militant group.

According to the Lebanese army, three soldiers were killed in an Israeli attack on their vehicle in southern Lebanon. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon last day and continued ground operations there.

The Lebanese army remained largely on the sidelines of the war. The military is a respected institution in Lebanon, but not powerful enough to impose its will on Hezbollah or protect the country from an Israeli invasion.

According to the Israeli military, Hezbollah fired more than 170 rockets into the country on Sunday. Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom said three people were slightly injured in a fire sparked by a rocket attack on the northern city of Safed.

In the middle is the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL, which said Israeli forces “deliberately demolished an observation tower and a perimeter fence at a UN position” in southern Lebanon on Sunday. It again resisted Israeli pressure to abandon its positions.

Iran supports Lebanon-based Hezbollah, and the United States is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents showing that Israel was positioning military assets for a military strike in response to Iran's Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack, according to reports three US officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Doctors warn of a catastrophic situation in Gaza

Israeli attacks on homes in the northern Gaza Strip overnight and on Sunday left at least 87 people dead or missing, the territory's health ministry said, as a large-scale operation continued against Hamas militants who were reportedly regrouping .

The ministry said another 40 people were injured in the attacks on the city of Beit Lahiya, which was one of the first targets of Israel's ground invasion almost a year ago. The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas target.

Among the dead were parents and eight children, according to Raheem Kheder, a paramedic. He said the strike leveled a multi-story building and at least four neighboring houses.

The Israeli military said it used precision munitions against a Hamas target.

Following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week, the US is calling on Israel to push for a ceasefire in Gaza. But neither Israel nor Hamas have shown interest in such a deal after negotiations stalled in August.

In central Gaza, six people, including a child, were killed when a car was hit in Deir al-Balah, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said. The bodies were counted by AP journalists.

Doctors Without Borders, the international charity with the French acronym MSF, called on Israeli forces to immediately stop their attacks on hospitals in northern Gaza after the Health Ministry said Israeli troops fired on two hospitals over the weekend.

The Israeli military said it was operating near a hospital but did not directly fire on it.

Internet connectivity failed in the northern Gaza Strip late Saturday, making it difficult to gather information about attacks and hampering rescue efforts.

Israel ordered the entire population of the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, to evacuate to the south in the early weeks of the war and repeated those orders this month. It is estimated that around 400,000 people remained.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel's security fence and stormed in, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping another 250. About 100 prisoners are still being held in Gaza, a third of them believed to be dead considered to be dead.

The Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, which do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The war has destroyed large parts of the Gaza Strip and displaced around 90% of the 2.3 million residents.