Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon hit branches of a Hezbollah-linked bank | Lebanon

Israel carried out a series of air strikes early Monday morning on the southern suburbs of Beirut, southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, hitting buildings at the Hezbollah-run Al-Qard Al-Hassan banking institution.

At least 10 airstrikes were carried out in Beirut's southern suburbs, with an entire building collapsing and a jet of fire shooting into the air in the Chiyah district of greater Beirut. A building near Lebanon's only commercial airport was also hit. Video footage showed a cloud of smoke rising as a nearby plane sat on the runway.

“They attacked empty buildings in residential areas and destroyed surrounding neighborhoods. “These were not military centers or weapons depots,” said Ma'an Khalil, the mayor of the municipality of Ghobeiry in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Israel gave notice before the bombings. Roads in the affected areas were soon clogged with traffic as people fled in anticipation of the strikes.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan has branches throughout Lebanon, including 15 in the greater Beirut area alone.

The attacks were part of Israel's efforts to destroy Hezbollah's financial system. The Israeli military said Sunday evening that Al-Qard Al-Hasssan had funded Hezbollah and the group “uses this money to finance its terrorist activities,” including the purchase and storage of weapons.

The announcement that Israel would begin targeting the bank, part of Hezbollah's civilian institutions, marked an expansion of Israel's targeting of the group's military wing.

According to the US Treasury Department, the institution was sanctioned by the US in 2017 during the Trump administration for allowing Hezbollah access to the international financial system.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan was founded in the early 1980s as a non-profit organization and is part of Hezbollah's strong network of social services.

The banking institution became increasingly popular after Lebanon's financial crisis in 2019, when commercial banks froze almost all accounts and stopped lending almost entirely. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese, primarily Shiite Muslims, bank with Al-Qard Al-Hassan. Many of them give the bank family assets such as gold in exchange for loans.

According to Lina Khatib, the director of the Soas Middle East Institute, the possible loss of the institution would be a “significant blow,” even though Al-Qard Al-Hassan is not the main method by which Hezbollah manages the finances of its social network. .

“If this gold is destroyed, Hezbollah voters expect to be able to compensate them for their loss. Hezbollah supporters' trust in the group remains high for now, despite the enormous losses,” Khatib said.

Shortly after the attacks, Hezbollah announced that it had fired rockets at groups of Israeli soldiers in Al-Malakiyah and Markaba in southern Lebanon. Heavy fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah fighters continued from Sunday into Monday morning as Israel continued to conduct cross-border incursions into southern Lebanon.

Israel has said it is seeking to weaken and destroy Hezbollah's infrastructure and capabilities along the border. Progress is unclear as the border areas are virtually depopulated and access to media is limited.

Top U.S. envoy Amos Hoschstein will return to Beirut on Monday morning to meet Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri and the country's caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati. Berri is negotiating on behalf of Hezbollah because the United States has no diplomatic contact with the group, which it classifies as a terrorist organization.

Hochstein is expected to push for full implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1701 and 1559, which call for the withdrawal of Hezbollah north of the Litani River – about 18 miles from the blue line between Lebanon and Israel – and the disarmament of the Call for militia.

Hezbollah has previously refused to be pushed back from the de facto border, but unprecedented losses for the group have reportedly softened its stance as it seeks a ceasefire with Israel. Almost all senior military leaders and their former secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah have been killed by Israel in the last three months.

More than 2,400 people have been killed and more than 11,530 injured in Lebanon since the war in Gaza began in October last year.