Israel puts sanctions on dozens of clients of Hezbollah-linked financial group
Measures applies to 24 entities depositing money with Lebanon’s Al-Qard Al-Hassan, which Defense Ministry says directly funds terror group’s activities and weapons purchases
Israel placed sanctions on dozens of clients of a bank closely tied to the Hezbollah terror movement in Lebanon, Defense Minister Israel Katz’s office said Thursday.
The measures were applied to 24 entities using the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, a nonprofit financial institution affiliated with Hezbollah.
“We will lay our hands on all those who support terror, on every front and with every means,” Katz said in a statement, describing the sanctions as part of efforts to “collapse the terror networks and hit those who provide them economic oxygen.”
The Defense Ministry did not name the targeted entities or explain how the sanctions would be applied, making it difficult to assess whether the move would have any significant real-world ramifications.
Israel and the US say Al-Qard Al-Hassan, which has over 30 outlets across Lebanon, is used by Hezbollah for money laundering and terrorism financing, assertions the group denies.
On October 21, Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes on at least 15 Al-Qard branches across Lebanon. Israel said it issued evacuation warnings ahead of the strikes. Many ordinary Lebanese keep their savings at the financial institution.
According to Defense Ministry, the sanctions are part of an ongoing financial campaign against Hezbollah and were made at the recommendation of the National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing of Israel.
The targeted groups are clients who “deposited significant amounts with the association, which directly funds the activities of the declared terror organization Hezbollah,” the ministry said.
The deposited funds are used, among other things, to purchase weapons, provide loans, and pay wages of Hezbollah members, it said.
The ministry said the sanctions program, led by the counter-terror financing bureau in cooperation with the Military Intelligence Directorate and other security bodies, was part of a “broad economic campaign to damage and thwart the finance routes of terror groups.”
The sanctions will assist in “locating and foiling international financial activities of these entities and the bodies associated with them,” said bureau chief Paul Landes.
Al-Qard al-Hassan is officially a nonprofit charity institution operating outside the Lebanese financial system and one of the tools with which Hezbollah entrenches its support among the country’s Shiite population.
In addition to its military wing, Hezbollah has branches that run schools, hospitals and low-price grocery stores, as well as Al-Qard al-Hassan, from which hundreds of thousands of its supporters benefit.
The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on Al-Qard al-Hassan since 2007, saying it is “used by Hezbollah as a cover” to manage the militant group’s financial activities “and gain access to the international financial system.”
Founded four decades ago, soon after Hezbollah’s inception, the association, whose name in Arabic means “the benevolent loan,” offers interest-free loans and allows people to deposit gold as collateral in return for the credit, enabling them to pay for school fees and weddings, buy a car or open a small business. People can also open savings accounts.
Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting since last October when the Iran-backed terror group began attacking across the Israeli-Lebanon border, saying it was supporting Gaza amid the ongoing war against the Hamas terror group there.
The fighting escalated after months of near-daily rocket and drone attacks by Hezbollah on Israel’s north that forced the evacuation of some 60,000 residents. Israel increased its airstrikes against Hezbollah in September and has also engaged in a limited ground operation aimed at pushing the terror group away from the border area and restoring security to the region.
