 "Inside Hezbollah bunker where Rs 4,200 crore worth of cash, gold was hidden")
Israel’s bombing of Lebanon has become relentless in recent days — the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Monday (October 21) said it had struck about 300 targets in Lebanon over the past 24 hours, of which around 30 were related to Al-Qard al-Hassan, the Hezbollah-linked financial group.
On Monday, Israel also accused Hezbollah of keeping hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker under a hospital in Dahiyeh, the southern suburbs of Beirut. In a press conference, IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari revealed that the bunker belonged to former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, adding, “The funds stored here could have been used to rebuild Lebanon, but instead they are used to rebuild Hezbollah.”
Want to know more about this bunker? Read on to find out.
Nasrallah’s bunker filled with cash and gold
On Monday, the IDF declassified intelligence it had gathered on a bunker that it claimed belonged to now slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah . The IDF spokesperson said that this bunker was situated under the Al-Sahel Hospital in the southern Beirut suburb known as Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah is largely based.
The IDF has said that the bunker, which was not yet struck by them, had been designed for long-term use. Providing further details on the bunker, the IDF said that it served as Hezbollah’s central money warehouse, where the vast majority of the organisation’s money stolen from Lebanese citizens and used for terrorism is hidden.
“Tonight, I am going to declassify intelligence on a site that we did not strike—where Hezbollah has millions of dollars in gold and cash—in Hassan Nasrallah’s bunker. Where is the bunker located? Directly under Al-Sahel Hospital in the heart of Beirut.”
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 21, 2024
Listen to IDF Spox.… pic.twitter.com/SjMZQpKqoJ
The IDF revealed a graphic photo and a video simulation of the structure. “This bunker is deliberately placed under the hospital and on both sides of it,” Hagari continued. “You can see the buildings under which the entrance shafts to the bunker are located.
Hagari in his press conference revealed that the bunker contained rooms, beds and other infrastructure for long stays. It also allows direct combat from underground.
The IDF revealed that their intelligence had revealed to them that the bunker currently houses heaps of cash and piles of gold worth $500 million (Rs 4,200 crore), which the IDF claimed could go to rebuilding the state of Lebanon.
Interestingly, the IDF is accusing Hezbollah as it did with Hamas in Gaza of operating and hiding its terror infrastructure within civilian spaces. Last year, when Israel began the relentless bombing of Gaza, it claimed that Hamas was hiding under hospitals and residential buildings.
In fact, the IDF allegations on Monday were reminiscent of the allegations it had made last year about Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital , which Israel claimed housed a large Hamas centre.
On Monday as part of his press conference, the IDF spokesperson called on Lebanese officials to inspect the site. “I’m calling on the Lebanese government, Lebanese authorities, and the international organisations — don’t allow Hezbollah to use the money for terror and to attack Israel,” he said.
Wrong claims
However, these claims made by the IDF have been refuted by the hospital staff. Fadi Alameh, who heads the hospital, deemed these allegations to be false. He told Reuters that Israel was making false and slanderous claims and called on the Lebanese Army to visit and show it only had operating rooms, patients and a morgue.
He further added that the medical staff working in the hospital had been evacuated, fearing Israel would strike it, though the Jewish nation had earlier said that it would not strike the facility.
Alameh, who is also a lawmaker for Hezbollah ally Amal, said he was ready for the Lebanese army “or other observers” to come and inspect the hospital to prove the claims wrong.
Hezbollah’s money trail
The bunker containing gold and money has also shone a light on how the Lebanon-based militant group is financed. In Monday’s press interaction, the IDF revealed how Iran finances the group. Hagari said that Iran’s Quds Force transfers money to Hezbollah from Iranian oil sold in Syria, and the Islamic Republic also sends suitcases of cash and gold by plane to the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, which distributes it directly to Hezbollah.
The group also uses the quasi-banking system, al-Qard al-Hasan, to fund the militant group’s military wing. This institution, according to Israel, finances arms purchases and is used to pay Hezbollah fighters.
The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on it 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.”
Today, al-Qard al-Hasan has more than 30 branches around Lebanon. For many in the country, it serves as a lifeline; this is because in 2019 following the country’s financial collapse, it was the only bank that allowed people to withdraw cash.
The US has imposed sanctions on the group, with the Biden administration even slapping terrorism charges on the institute’s director, Adel Mansour.
With inputs from agencies
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