The Israel Defense Forces provided the location of an alleged Hezbollah-owned vault in Lebanon that the military claims is storing hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold.
In recent weeks, the IDF has been targeting the strongholds of Hezbollah’s financial arm, al Qard al Hasan, with precision strikes throughout Beirut and the surrounding area. But now, the Israeli military is publishing the details of a valuable target it did not strike.
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari unveiled the newly declassified information in a video address on Monday, asserting that a bunker built under a central Beirut hospital for the deceased former secretary-general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, contains the vast fortune.
“Tonight, I am going to declassify intelligence on a site that we did not strike. Where Hezbollah has millions of dollars in gold and cash — in Hassan Nasrallah’s bunker,” Hagari said in the video message. “Where is the bunker located? Directly under al Sahel Hospital in the heart of Beirut.”
The Israeli military says the bunker contains living quarters and amenities for extended stays, equipment for commanding Hezbollah members from underground, and a vast fortune.
“There are hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold inside the bunker right now,” Hagari said. “I am calling on the Lebanese government, Lebanese authorities, and the international organizations — don’t allow Hezbollah to use the money for terror and to attack Israel.”
Hagari said in the address that the Israeli Air Force is monitoring the compound but “will not strike the hospital itself.”
“I want to emphasize, we are not at war with the people of Lebanon. We are at war with Hezbollah,” he continued. “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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Hezbollah’s decision to store an important operational hub underneath a hospital in Beirut is reminiscent of Hamas’s tactics in Gaza, effectively using human shields from Israeli bombardment.
IDF strikes on Sunday night destroyed over a dozen buildings housing branches of al Qard al Hasan as part of a campaign to cripple the terrorist organization financially. Al Qard al Hasan is a nongovernmental lending institution directly operated by Hezbollah.
The destruction of al Qard al Hasan locations could disrupt Hezbollah operations, but the group’s extensive funding from the Iranian government means a total financial collapse is unlikely.
An Israeli airstrike earlier this month killed Mohammed Jaafar Qassir, who the U.S. Treasury said was “a critical conduit for financial disbursements from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) that are used to fund Hezballah’s activities.”