Blasts rock Beirut as Israel targets Hezbollah financial arm, with IDF strike killing dozens in Gaza - ABC News

Oct 26, 2024

Explosions and traffic jams have hit parts of Beirut, with hundreds of panicked residents fleeing their homes after Israel took aim at a "large number of targets" linked to Hezbollah's financial arm.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued evacuation warnings for people in parts of Beirut and "anyone who will be near the sites used to finance Hezbollah's terrorist activity is required to stay away from them immediately".

Shortly afterwards, several blasts struck Beirut, including next to the international airport, and a large fire was seen in city's southern suburbs.

Hundreds of Beirut residents fled their homes after the warning, with panicked crowds clogging the streets and causing traffic jams, witnesses said.

Al-Qard al-Hassan, the main organisation used by Hezbollah to manage its finances, has more than 30 branches across Lebanon, including 15 in densely populated parts of central Beirut and its suburbs.

"It's a big deal," said David Asher, an expert on illicit financing who has worked at the US defence and state departments and is now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

"AQAH is a cash-based organisation. The cash will be trash [after the strikes]."

He said Al-Qard al-Hassan had large accounts with big Lebanese banks.

Al-Qard al-Hassan in a statement called the decision to target it a sign of Israel's "bankruptcy" and assured customers it had taken "measures" to ensure their funds were safe.

A stream of people left the areas surrounding its branches in Beirut.

In one evacuation notice, for the Choueifat area south of Beirut, the Israeli military mislabelled one target, causing confusion and panic.

The location was labelled as Grand Cinema ABC Verdun, a theatre in an upscale shopping mall in central Beirut more than 10 kilometres away.

Evacuation warnings affected southern Beirut, the eastern Bekaa valley and parts of southern Lebanon.

A senior Israeli intelligence official said the strikes would target al-Qard al-Hassan "all over Lebanon".

Al-Qard al-Hassan is a unit in Hezbollah used to pay operatives of the Iran-backed militant group and help buy arms, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with army regulations.

The registered nonprofit, sanctioned by both the US and Saudi Arabia, provides financial services and is also used by ordinary Lebanese.

The scope of the new Israeli evacuation warnings was not immediately clear.

Israeli strikes on homes in the northern Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday left at least 87 people dead or missing, the territory's health ministry said, as a large-scale operation continued against Hamas militants said to be regrouping.

Israel says it targeted a Hezbollah "command centre" in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Sunday, while in northern Gaza local officials say at least 87 people are dead or missing after Israeli strikes on multiple homes.

The ministry said another 40 people were wounded in the strikes on the town of Beit Lahiya, which was among the first targets of Israel's ground invasion nearly a year ago.

The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas target.

The US is urging Israel to press for a ceasefire in Gaza following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week. But neither Israel nor Hamas has shown interest in such a deal after negotiations sputtered to a halt in August.

The Lebanese army said three soldiers were killed in an Israeli strike on their vehicle in southern Lebanon on Sunday.

There was no immediate comment on that from the Israeli military, which said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the past day and continued ground operations there.

Lebanon's army has largely kept to the sidelines in the war.

The military is a respected institution in Lebanon but is not powerful enough to impose its will on Hezbollah or defend the country from an Israeli invasion.

Israel's military said Hezbollah fired more than 170 rockets into the country on Sunday.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said three people were slightly injured by a fire sparked by a rocket attack on the northern city of Safed.

Israel has increased strikes on southern neighbourhoods of Beirut known as the Dahiyeh, a crowded residential area where Hezbollah has a strong presence.

It is also home to many civilians unaffiliated with the militant group.

The current war in Gaza began after Hamas militants killed 1,200 Israelis in a terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures.

Israeli forces have since killed over 42,500 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry.

AP