Israel says 'eliminated' Hezbollah finance chief in Syria

The Israeli military has announced that it has “eliminated” a Hezbollah commander responsible for funding the Lebanese terrorist group.  

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, without disclosing the name of the eliminated commander, said that he was killed in a targeted strike a few hours earlier in Syria.

Hagari, in a statement on Monday, further informed that the commander killed in the strike in Syria headed the Iran-backed Hezbollah’s Unit 4400.  

Hezbollah’s Unit 4400, Hagari informed, was “responsible for the transfers and the amount of funds” to the terrorist group through Tehran’s oil sales."  

Unit 4400 is charged with transporting Iranian oil to Syria, which is then sold in Lebanon. Its value “is about tens of millions of dollars”, Hagari said.

More from World

Nepal's new PM pays homage to people died during the Gen Z protest in her first national address This Week in Explainers: How recovering from Gen-Z protests is a Himalayan task for Nepal

The unit was previously led by Mohammed Jafar Ksir, also known as Sheikh Salah, who was also killed by the Israeli military in Beirut earlier this month, Hagari said.

“He (Ksir) managed the terrorist organisation’s main source of income for years, until we eliminated him in a targeted attack on the capital (Beirut) in early October,” the IDF spokesperson said.

Earlier on Monday, Syria’s defence ministry said two people were killed in an Israeli strike targeting a car in Damascus.

As per the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the strike targeted a non-Syrian man who was driving his car in a neighbourhood where a memorial was being held for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israel last week in Gaza.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

On the other hand, Israel has intensified its military operation against Hezbollah’s financial infrastructure in Lebanon.

As per a report by The Associated Press, the Israeli military struck at least 15 branches of Hezbollah’s Al-Qard al-Hasan on Sunday.  

Al-Qard al-Hasan is a financial institution that functions as a bank and is accused of funding Hezbollah’s activities. It is registered as a charity in Lebanon.  

Al-Qard al-Hasan has been sanctioned by both the United States and Saudi Arabia.  

During a news briefing on Monday, Hagari said that one of the targets that was hit was a vault used by Al-Qard al-Hasan that was underneath a residential building in Beirut. The vault, he said, contained “tens of millions of dollars.”

Hamas ally Hezbollah (both funded by  Iran) has been firing rockets daily into northern Israel in support of the Palestinian Islamist movement since the war was triggered by Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Israel, which has now intensified its ground offensive to push Hezbollah from its northern border, has in recent days ramped up its drive to hit the Iranian-backed group’s finances.

With inputs from agencies.