Israeli
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KABOOM!...
s targeted branches of an association accused of financing the Hezbollah terror group late Sunday and early Monday, as Israel appeared to expand its campaign against the Iran-backed group in an effort to degrade its ability to fund operations.
At least 11 strikes were reported in Beirut’s southern suburbs, with more attacks in southern Leb
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah 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 dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original 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...and the northeastern Beqaa Valley region, all Hezbollah strongholds, as panicked civilians tried to reach shelter.
Most of the strikes targeted branches of al-Qard al-Hassan, seen as one of the group’s main sources of cash.
Here are some details about al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH):
— Founded in 1983, al-Qard al-Hassan describes itself as a charitable organization, which provides loans to people according to Islamic principles that forbid interest. It has more than 30 branches across Lebanon, including 15 in densely populated parts of central Beirut and its suburbs. It operates under a license granted by the Lebanese government.
— Many people from Hezbollah’s Shiite constituency have borrowed from al-Qard al-Hassan, taking hard currency loans against the value of jewelry — for example — repayable over several years on flexible terms. Its role expanded as Lebanon sank into a deep financial crisis beginning in 2019, freezing ordinary Lebanese out of their savings. Hezbollah encouraged Lebanese from all sects and political factions to use AQAH.
— The United States Department of the Treasury, which sanctioned AQAH in 2007, has said that Hezbollah uses al-Qard al-Hassan as a cover to manage "financial activities and gain access to the international financial system." "While AQAH purports to serve the Lebanese people, in practice it illicitly moves funds through shell accounts and controllers, exposing Lebanese financial institutions to possible sanctions," it said in a later statement sanctioning individuals linked to it in 2021.
— Hezbollah’s slain terror chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...>
, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on September 27, spoke about AQAH many times. In 2020, after al-Qard al-Hassan was hacked and names of its clients were published, Nasrallah said the aim was to scare away its users in a bid to make the institution collapse. He urged Hezbollah supporters to respond by depositing any funds they had at home with al-Qard al-Hassan. He described it as an organization supported and protected by Hezbollah.
– Al-Qard Al-Hassan is estimated to have hundreds of thousands of clients, according to two regional financial sources.