...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he issued an order to seize the cryptocurrency wallets and turn over the funds to the Israeli government.
He described the "extensive" operation as Israel's first to target Hezbollah and the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force — two organizations sworn to Israel's destruction. Both have been designated by the United States and some other governments as "terrorist" organizations and locked out of the traditional global financial system.
It was a multi-agency effort, Gallant said, involving Israel's Mossad spy agency, the Israeli military intelligence office, the Israeli police and others.
Israel has previously seized cryptocurrency belonging to the paramilitary arm of Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
's Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", rulers as part of counterterrorism financing investigations.
"This is the first incident of this magnitude," Gallant said, noting that the effort took place earlier this week. "We have effectively cut off the flow of terror funds via this channel."
Iran's mission to the United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Israel's announcement.
Gallant alleged that Hezbollah and the Quds Force rely on virtual currency to finance their bad boy activities. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are favored for illicit transactions because they are perceived as hard to trace. Anyone in the world can create a Bitcoin account and begin receiving digital funds without providing a name or address.
Countries facing American sanctions, like Israel's regional foe Iran, have worked toward creating their own cryptocurrencies to circumvent financial restrictions.
Gallant said that Israel's seizure of the illicit funds should serve as a warning to "whoever finances terror," as Israeli authorities have developed tools and techniques that can identify those involved in so-called blockchain transactions.