BEIRUT: Lebanese were surveying the damage on Monday after overnight Israeli strikes hit nearly a dozen branches of a Hezbollah-run financial institution that Israel says is used to fund attacks but where many ordinary people keep their savings.
The strikes targeted Al-Qard Al-Hassan branches in the southern neighborhoods of Beirut, across southern Lebanon and in the eastern Bekaa Valley, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. One strike flattened a nine-story building in Beirut with a branch inside it. Smoke rose from several locations on Monday.
The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings ahead of the strikes. There were no reports of casualties.
Israel invaded Lebanon earlier this month, saying it aims to push Hezbollah from the border after more than a year of rocket, missile and drone attacks that began after Palestinian Hamas militants launched their surprise Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Israeli airstrikes have pounded large areas of Lebanon for weeks, forcing over a million people to flee their homes.
The United States is hoping to revive diplomatic efforts to resolve both conflicts after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip last week, but so far all sides appear to be digging in.
Hezbollah-run lender filled gaps left by Lebanon’s troubled banks
The Arabic language spokesman for the Israeli military, Avichay Adraee, said warplanes targeted several locations “used to store money for the military arm of Hezbollah,” including Al-Qard Al-Hassan, which he said finances arms purchases and is used to pay fighters.
He said Hezbollah stores hundreds of millions of dollars in the branches, without providing evidence, and that the strikes were aimed at preventing the group from rearming.
The institution has more than 30 branches across Lebanon. It tried to reassure customers, saying it had evacuated all branches and relocated gold and other deposits to safe areas.
Many customers are civilians unaffiliated with Hezbollah. The registered nonprofit has long served as an alternative to Lebanon’s banks, which have imposed restrictions in the face of a severe financial crisis that began in 2019.
Bulldozers cleared mounds of rubble at the site of one strike. Clothes, furniture and the remains of a beauty salon were seen in the debris. Al-Qard Al-Hassan documents were scattered across the area, but there was no sign of cash or other valuables.
Lebanon assesses damage after Israel strikes Hezbollah-run financial institution
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Lebanon assesses damage after Israel strikes Hezbollah-run financial institution
- Strikes targeted Al-Qard Al-Hassan branches in the southern neighborhoods of Beirut, across southern Lebanon and in the eastern Bekaa Valley
- One strike flattened a nine-story building in Beirut with a branch inside it
Israel army says Hezbollah cash vault hit
- Israeli forces are now seeking to degrade the movement’s ability to fund its operations
- Military spokesman did not say whether all of the money was destroyed by the strike
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said Monday its forces were pummelling Hezbollah’s financial arm, hitting more than two dozen targets including a bunker with tens of millions of dollars in cash and gold.
The strikes since Sunday night mark an expansion of Israel’s campaign against the Iran-backed group after a year of cross-border exchanges that escalated in late September into a full-blown war.
Israeli forces are now seeking to degrade the movement’s ability to fund its operations.
“The Israeli Air Force carried out a series of precise strikes on these Hezbollah financial strongholds,” military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing.
“One of our main targets last night was an underground vault with tens of millions of dollars in cash and gold. The money was being used to finance Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel.”
He did not specify whether all of the money was destroyed by the strike.
Hagari then referenced a separate bunker also allegedly filled with cash and gold under a hospital in the capital Beirut, but said the vault had not been targeted yet by the Israeli military.
“According to the estimates we have, there is at least half a billion dollars in dollar bills and gold stored in this bunker,” Hagari said.
“This money could and still can be used to rebuild the state of Lebanon.”
Earlier Monday, Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said more than two dozen targets belonging to Al-Qard Al-Hassan — a financial firm linked to Hezbollah — were hit.
“We struck close to 30 targets across Lebanon,” Halevi said in a statement, after strikes began Sunday night against the US-sanctioned association that Israel accuses of financing “Hezbollah’s terrorist operations.”
The announcements came as the army said it continued to hammer an array of Hezbollah positions across Lebanon, including strikes against about 300 targets in the previous 24 hours.
Al-Qard Al-Hassan is a lifeline for mainly Muslim Shiite communities battling a years-long financial crisis that has locked Lebanese out of their bank deposits.
The financial firm, officially registered as a charity, has been offering customers credit in exchange for gold deposits on an interest-free basis since the 1980s.
Its beneficiaries are mainly Shiite Muslims, but in a country where a five-year economic crisis has forced many into desperation, Christians and Sunni Muslims have also turned to its services.
The United States has long sanctioned the association, accusing Hezbollah of using it as a cover to mask its financial activities and gain access to the international financial system.
On Sunday evening, Israel struck Al-Qard Al-Hassan branches in Beirut, the eastern Bekaa Valley and south Lebanon, Lebanese official media said.
Al-Qard Al-Hassan says it has more than 30 branches nationwide, mainly in Hezbollah bastions including Beirut’s southern suburbs, but also in central Beirut and in other major cities such as Sidon and Tyre.
Israel in late September widened the focus of its military operations to Lebanon after nearly a year of war against Hezbollah’s Palestinian ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Blinken heads to Middle East for 11th time since Gaza war, truce prospects uncertain
- The latest trip comes as Israel intensifies military campaign in Gaza and in Lebanon against Hezbollah
- Blinken to discuss with regional leaders importance of ending Gaza war and ways to chart post-war plan
WASHINGTON DC: Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading again to the Middle East, making his 11th trip to the region since the war in Gaza erupted last year and as Israel steps up attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The State Department said Blinken would depart Monday for a weeklong trip to Israel and a number of Arab countries on a visit that also comes as Israel weighs retaliation against Iran for a ballistic missile attack earlier this month. His other stops are likely to include Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, officials say.
The trip had been expected after President Joe Biden said last week he would dispatch Blinken to the region following Israel’s killing of Hamas military chief Yahya Sinwar, a move that some believe could open a window for new talks on a ceasefire proposal that has been languishing for months.
In Israel on Tuesday, Blinken will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, according to Israeli officials.
“Secretary Blinken will discuss the importance of bringing the war in Gaza to an end, securing the release of all hostages, and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
In the region, Blinken will discuss planning for when the conflict ends and “the need to chart a new path forward that enables Palestinians to rebuild their lives,” Miller added.
He said Blinken also would underscore the need for a dramatic increase in the amount of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza, something that Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made clear in a letter to Israeli officials last week. That letter reminded Israel that the Biden administration could be forced by US law to curtail some forms of military aid should the delivery of humanitarian assistance continue to be hindered.
In addition to the conflict in Gaza, Blinken will also raise the importance the administration places on reaching a diplomatic resolution to the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and elsewhere.
“He will reaffirm the US commitment to work with partners across the region to de-escalate tensions and provide lasting stability,” Miller said in the statement.
Since the Hamas attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the Israeli response, Blinken has traveled to the Middle East 10 other times seeking an end to the crisis. His previous trips have yielded little in the way of ending hostilities, but he has managed to increase aid deliveries to Gaza in the past.
Since just last month, the situation has grown increasingly tense, sparking renewed fears of a wider regional war, particularly since Israel began ground operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah and killed its leader Hassan Nasrallah in a massive airstrike in the Beirut suburbs.
Iran has responded to Israeli attacks against its proxies with ballistic missile launches, the latest of which Israel has yet to retaliate for. Biden administration officials have cautioned Israel about its planned retaliation and believe they have won assurances from Israeli leaders that they will not hit nuclear or oil facilities.
However, Netanyahu has said repeatedly that while Israel will listen to American advice, his country will act in its own national interest. And previous US warnings about escalation have gone unheeded.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden was “deeply concerned” about the unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel’s preparation for a potential retaliatory attack on Iran, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday. US officials said an investigation is underway.
France’s Macron to visit Morocco from October 28 to 30
- King Mohammed VI said the visit is an opportunity for “a renewed and ambitious vision covering several strategic sectors”
RABAT: French President Emmanuel Macron will head to Morocco next week for a three-day state visit, the Moroccan royal palace said Monday, following years of strained relations.
“This visit reflects the depth of bilateral relations based on a deep-rooted and solid partnership,” the palace said.
Macron, who will arrive on October 28, was invited to the North African country by Moroccan King Mohammed VI in late September.
The monarch had called the visit — the second since 2018 — an opportunity for “a renewed and ambitious vision covering several strategic sectors.”
Tensions between Paris and Rabat have risen in recent years over France’s ambiguous stance on the disputed Western Sahara and Macron’s quest for a rapprochement with Algeria.
A statement by the European Parliament in 2023 condemning a rollback in the kingdom’s freedom of the press also ramped up tensions, with some blaming Paris.
The two countries were also at odds after France in 2021 halved the number of visas it granted to Moroccans — a decision that was revoked the following year.
Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is largely controlled by Morocco but claimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which in 2020 declared a “self-defense war” and seeks the territory’s independence.
Macron in July eased tensions between the countries, saying Morocco’s autonomy plan for the territory was the “only basis” to resolve the decades-old conflict.
“The present and future of Western Sahara are part of Moroccan sovereignty,” Macron said in a statement.
France’s diplomatic turnabout had been awaited by Morocco, whose annexation of Western Sahara had already been recognized by the United States in return for Rabat’s normalizing ties with Israel in 2020.
The United Nations considers Western Sahara a “non-self-governing territory” and has had a peacekeeping mission there since 1991 whose stated aim is to organize a referendum on the territory’s future.
But Rabat has repeatedly rejected any vote in which independence is an option.
After Macron’s statement endorsing Morocco’s autonomy plan, the Polisario Front promptly withdrew its ambassador to Paris and has yet to replace him.
Rabat and Paris also hope that thawing relations will pave the way for economic deals — including in Western Sahara.
French engineering company Egis is set to extend the high-speed rail line between the Moroccan cities of Kenitra and Marrakech.
In Western Sahara, French energy company Engie has been contracted to build a water desalination plant and a wind farm.
Palestinians accuse Israeli military of using detainees as human shields in Gaza
- Israel’s alleged use of human shields came to public attention through footage broadcast by Al-Jazeera in June and July
LONDON: Palestinian detainees have accused the Israeli military of forcing them to act as human shields during operations in Gaza, a practice that violates both international and Israeli law.
According to testimony gathered by The Guardian newspaper, detainees were compelled to enter homes and tunnels ahead of Israeli soldiers, exposing them to the risk of explosives and attacks from Hamas fighters.
One of the detainees, Ramez Al-Skafi, recounted how Israeli troops detained him after burning down his family home in Shuja’iya.
Skafi said he was separated from his family and coerced into scouting dangerous areas for Israeli forces.
“I tried to resist their proposal, but they started beating me,” he said. “The officer told me it was not my choice to make and that I had to do whatever they wanted.”
Al-Skafi claimed that for 11 days he was sent into houses in his district, ahead of Israeli soldiers, to search for booby traps and provide information about the homeowners. On some occasions, he was made to carry small quadcopter drones inside the buildings, allowing Israeli troops to survey the interior before entering.
“Every day, after they’d finished with me, they used to tie my hands and cover my eyes. They only took the chains off when they were giving me food or when I was allowed to go to the bathroom,” Al-Skafi added.
Israel’s alleged use of human shields came to public attention through footage broadcast by Al-Jazeera in June and July. Israeli newspaper Haaretz also reported on the practice, gathering testimony from Israeli soldiers who said the tactic was institutionalized and referred to detainees as “shawish,” a Turkish phrase for “sergeant.”
According to these soldiers, the practice was not an isolated occurrence but an approved strategy. “It’s done with the knowledge of the brigade commander, at the least,” one soldier said.
The use of human shields is a violation of Article 28 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that civilians or prisoners must not be used to shield military operations from attack.
Israeli law also expressly prohibits the tactic. In a 2002 ruling, Israel’s high court banned the “neighbor procedure,” in which Palestinians were forced to knock on doors or enter homes to ensure their safety. Despite this, there are ongoing claims that such practices persist.
Another former detainee, Ismail Al-Sawalhi, a blacksmith from Jabaliya camp, recalled being detained near the Kerem Shalom crossing in July.
Al-Sawalhi said he was forced to work for 12 days as a human shield during clearing operations in Rafah.
“They took us to missions with them, sending me to the houses in front of them to make sure of their safety, and then they would enter behind us. After they left, they used to blow up the house behind them,” he said.
He also described how he and other detainees were used to protect Israeli soldiers from resistance fighters, saying: “We were like toys in their hands.”
A third detainee from Beit Lahia, who only wished to be identified as Abu Said, described a similar experience.
“The Israeli soldiers put a GPS tracker on my hand and told me: ‘If you try to run away, we will shoot you. We will know where you are,’” he told The Guardian.
Said was forced to knock on doors of homes and schools to evacuate civilians. During one incident, he said: “There was heavy shooting by the Israeli army and I thought I was going to die.”
He was eventually released after several hours but only after being told to leave the area with a white flag to ensure he would not be targeted by Israeli fire.
The Israel Defense Forces denied the allegations. In a statement it said: “The orders and directives of the IDF prohibit the use of Gazan civilians captured in the field for military missions that endanger them. The protocols and orders have been clarified to the troops on the ground.”
It added that the claims made in recent reports had been “forwarded to be examined by the relevant authorities.”
However, whistleblowers from the Israeli dissident group Breaking The Silence have provided corroborating testimony.
Former Israeli military sniper Nadav Weiman, now director of BTS, claimed the use of human shields is widespread in Gaza.
“From what we understand it was a very widely used protocol, meaning there are hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza who have been used as human shields,” he said.
Weiman also alleged that Palestinians, including teenagers, were grabbed from humanitarian corridors and sent into buildings and tunnels wearing Israeli uniforms or equipped with cameras.
“In almost all cases, they are cuffed before they are taken into a tunnel or house to sweep,” Weiman added.
The practice of using human shields has been condemned by numerous human rights organizations.
Bill van Esveld, Human Rights Watch’s associate director for children’s rights in the Middle East and North Africa, said: “There is this repeated history of well-documented accounts by UN bodies, as well as by human rights groups, and indications of Israeli awareness of the problem, but no action. It’s no surprise that this longstanding problem would persist.”
Israel apologizes for strike that killed 3 Lebanese soldiers
- Israel said its troops believed they were targeting a vehicle belonging to Hezbollah
BEIRUT: The Israeli military apologized Monday for a strike that killed three Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon, saying it is not battling the country’s military and its troops believed they were targeting a vehicle belonging to the Hezbollah militant group.
Israeli strikes meanwhile hit nearly a dozen branches of a Hezbollah-run financial institution that Israel says is used to fund attacks but where many ordinary people keep their savings.
Last week, Hezbollah said it is entering a new phase in its fight against invading Israeli troops, as the region reckoned with the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a battle with Israeli forces in Gaza. Sinwar was a chief architect of the attack on southern Israel that precipitated the latest escalating conflicts in the Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annihilate Hamas and recover dozens of hostages held by the group. Hamas says it will only release the captives in return for a lasting ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish combatants from civilians. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90 percent of its population of 2.3 million people.
