Israel bombed this Monday (21) a Lebanese company linked to Hezbollahwhich the country accuses of financing the weapons of the Iranian-backed Islamist movement, after almost a month of open war.
Israeli bombings hit the financial company’s offices Al Qard Al Hassan in the cities of Nabatieh and Tyre, in the south of Lebanonduring the night, according to the Lebanese national news agency, Years.
This Monday, the Israeli Army announced that it attacked “dozens of installations and areas” used by the Islamist movement in Beirut and southern Lebanon, including antennas of the financial institution.
The attacks show that the Israel Defense Forces, in open warfare against Hezbollah for nearly a month, are seeking to undermine the group’s financing capabilities.
Israel accuses Al Qard Al Hassan of financing “Hezbollah’s terrorist activities,” including purchasing weapons and paying fighters.
Hezbollah has built its social base in Shiite areas of Lebanon by providing protection, health care, education and financial services in a state eroded for decades by sectarianism and corruption.
Al Qard Al Hassan is a financial company linked to Hezbollah that offers microcredits. In Lebanon, the traditional banking system collapsed five years ago when the country suffered a new economic crisis.
The institution is subject to sanctions from the US government. USAwhich accuses Hezbollah of using it as a cover for the group’s financial activities and to gain access to the international financial system.
A man tries to recover documents from the company Al-Qard Al-Hassan, whose office in Lebanon was bombed by Israel.
Photo: Bilal KASHMAR / AFP
On Sunday, 11 bombings hit the southern outskirts of Beirut, the agency reported. Yearsseveral of them directed against the offices of Al Qard Al Hassan.
Just a month ago, the busy streets of south Beirut were packed with traffic, families strolling and young people in cafes. Now, silence reigns in this abandoned Hezbollah stronghold.
Israel also bombed branches of Al Qard Al Hassan in the Bekaa Valley, eastern Lebanon, and the south of the country.
According to Yearsa bombing was also recorded near Beirut airport, the main entry point for humanitarian aid and exit for those trying to flee the conflict.
United States Representative in Beirut
American representative Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut this Monday. The newspaper Al Akhbarlinked to Hezbollah, highlights in its headline: “Hochstein negotiates with fire”, with a photograph showing a plane at Beirut airport and, in the background, the smoke caused by a bombing.
The Israeli Army reported that dozens of projectiles were launched from Lebanon this Monday.
The country’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, told troops on Sunday that the Defense Forces are intensifying bombings against Hezbollah in Lebanon, destroying areas that the group “planned to use to carry out attacks against Israel.”
After weakening the Hamas In Gaza, Israel transferred most of its operations to Lebanon, with the aim of allowing the return to their homes of almost 60,000 Israelis displaced by attacks by the Islamist movement.
The war in Gaza Strip began after the October 7, 2023, incursion by Hamas fighters that killed 1,206 people in southern Israel, according to a tally by AFP based on official Israeli data and which includes hostages who died in captivity in Gaza.
Of the 251 people kidnapped in the attack, 97 remain trapped in Gaza, of which 34 were declared dead by the army.
In support of its Palestinian ally, Hezbollah opened a front against Israel in October last year, with cross-border attacks that forced thousands of Israelis to flee their homes.
Since September 23, when Israel began its bombing campaign in Lebanon, at least 1,470 people have died in the country, according to a count by the AFP based on official data. Furthermore, by mid-October, Israeli intervention had forced nearly 700,000 people to flee their homes, according to the UN.
No food or water in Gaza
In northern Gaza, Civil Defense announced on Sunday that Israeli shelling of a residential area killed 73 Palestinians on Saturday night in Beit Lahia.
Israel began a major air and ground campaign in northern Palestinian territory on October 6, with the aim, according to the Army, of preventing the regrouping of Hamas fighters.
New Israeli attack on Gaza.
Photo: Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP
“We are trapped without food, water or medicine, facing hunger amid the rubble and destruction,” said Ahmad Saleh, 36, in the Al Tawbah sector in the north of the Strip.
According to the agency HIM for Palestinian refugees, the UNRWAat least 400,000 people are blocked in northern Gaza.
The Israeli Army stated that it bombed a “Hamas terrorist target” in Beit Lahia and that the data released by the Gaza authorities “does not match” the country’s information.
Israel’s reprisal offensive against Gaza has killed at least 42,603 people, most of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-ruled Strip’s Ministry of Health, considered reliable by the UN.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel and some Arab countries starting this Monday with the aim of encouraging a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the State Department said.
During the trip, which will continue until Friday, he will “talk about the importance of ending the war in Gaza, securing the release of all hostages, and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people,” the State Department said.
