IDF launches air strikes on Hezbollah banking systems in Lebanon

Israel’s military has launched more strikes on Lebanon, it says to target banks and other financial institutions that support the militant group Hezbollah.

The IDF issued evacuation warnings for 24 areas, including 14 in the capital Beirut, warning that strikes were likely throughout the night.

“We will be attacking a large number of targets in the next few hours and more targets later tonight. In the coming days we will reveal how Iran finances Hezbollah’s terrorist activity by using civil institutions, associations and NGOs as a cover for terrorist activity. We will attack them during the night and update on the results of the attack in the next few months,” said IDF spokesperson, Daniel Hagari.

A senior Israeli intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the main target of the strikes was the Hezbollah-run banking system, al-Qard al-Hassan.

The registered non-profit, which has been sanctioned by the US and Saudi Arabia, provides cash-based financial services and is used by hundreds of thousands of ordinary Lebanese.

Al-Qard al-Hassan said in a statement that the decision to target it is a sign of Israel’s “bankruptcy” and assured customers it had taken measures to ensure their funds were safe.

Hundreds of residents in Beirut fled their homes following the IDF evacuation orders and explosions were heard in the city shortly after.

Witnesses said panicking crowds clogged the streets and caused traffic jams in parts of the city.

The announcement of the fresh strikes on Beirut came a day after US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said civilian casualties in Lebanon were “far too high”.

Health authorities in Lebanon say more than 1,700 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in recent weeks, around a quarter of them women and children.

A year of escalating tensions and frequent cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah over the war in Gaza turned into all-out war last month.

Israel launched what it called a ‘targeted’ ground operation into Lebanon at the end of September with as many as 15,000 troops said to be inside the country.

Meanwhile, the IDF said Hezbollah fired more than 170 rockets into the country on Sunday, with three people slightly injured from a fire sparked by a strike on the northern city of Safed.

Lebanon’s army has largely stayed on the sidelines in the conflict. It’s a respected institution in Lebanon but isn’t powerful enough to impose its will on Iran-funded Hezbollah or defend the country from an Israeli invasion.

The United States is reportedly investigating an unauthorised release of classified documents indicating that Israel was moving military assets into place for a military strike in response to Iran’s missiles attack on 1 October, according to three anonymous US officials.

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Iran is one of Hezbollah’s main financial backers and also provides support to the ideologically aligned militant group Hamas in Gaza.