Israel’s Defense Ministry announced sanctions on dozens of clients of Hezbollah’s banking network
Israel: The Al-Qard al-Hassan Association is a network of unauthorized banks that Hezbollah uses to generate and launder money. On Thursday, Israel’s Defense Ministry issued penalties against hundreds of its customers.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the action was intended to “collapse the terror networks and hit those who provide them economic oxygen.” “We will lay our hands on all those who support terror, on every front and with every means,” Katz added.
The government said that it “deposited significant amounts with the association, which directly funds the activities of the declared terror organization Hezbollah,” although it did not identify the specific organizations that were targeted. According to the ministry, among other things, funds deposited with the Al-Qard al-Hassan Association (AQAH) are used to buy weapons and cover Hezbollah militants’ wages.
On October 20, Israeli aircraft struck 20 of AQAH’s 34 branches in major Hezbollah strongholds, including Tyre, Baalbek, Beirut, and Sidon.
Following the attacks, a senior Israeli intelligence official told The Press Service of Israel that AQAH was “one of the largest centres of economic power for the Iranian proxy.”
She said that Hezbollah benefited from a parallel, uncontrolled financial structure, while the country’s economic instability was exacerbated by its rivalry with the Lebanese banking industry.
Although it is often referred to as Hezbollah’s “bank,” AQAH is really a nonprofit organization.
In the midst of Lebanon’s economic crisis, AQAH, which was founded in 1982, grew to 34 branches. It specializes in offering microloans to the Shiite minority in Lebanon, which mostly backs Hezbollah. These loans cover everything from solar energy farms and agricultural development to wedding costs.
By providing additional funding for homes, schools, hospitals, and other Hezbollah social services in places where standard banking services are unavailable or mistrusted, AQAH strengthened Hezbollah’s capacity to function as a “state within a state.”
Israeli authorities estimate that AQAH handles around $500 million in transactions annually, with a $3.5 billion cumulative turnover prior to 2019. Suspected links to Iran, a major Hezbollah funder, have raised questions about the group’s financial operations.
The bank is accused of acting as a conduit for money laundering for terrorist-related operations in addition to lending money. In 2007, AQAH was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas assaults, Hezbollah started firing drones and rockets into villages in northern Israel on a regular basis. Over 68,000 people have been forced from their homes in northern Israel. Leaders of Hezbollah have said again and again that they would carry out the assaults in order to prevent Israelis from going back to their homes.
Hezbollah is prohibited from conducting operations in southern Lebanon south of the Litani River in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which put an end to the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
On October 7, Hamas attacked Israeli villages along the Gaza border, killing at least 1,200 people and taking 252 Israelis and foreigners captive. Over 30 of the 97 captives who are still alive have been pronounced dead. Along with the remains of two soldiers murdered in 2014, Hamas has also been keeping two Israeli citizens hostage during 2014 and 2015.
