Israel placed sanctions on dozens of clients of a bank closely tied to the Hezbollah terror movement in 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..., 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
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KABOOM!...
s 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 krazed killer 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.