{"id":117121,"date":"2024-10-22T16:41:15","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T09:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=117121"},"modified":"2024-10-22T16:41:15","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T09:41:15","slug":"hezbollah-targets-israeli-military-base-near-tel-aviv-live-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=117121","title":{"rendered":"Hezbollah Targets Israeli Military Base Near Tel Aviv: Live Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p>The Israeli military conducted a wave of airstrikes across Lebanon on Sunday, targeting multiple branches of Al-Qard al-Hasan, a financial organization that functions as a bank and is associated with the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.<\/p>\n<p>Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the military\u2019s spokesman, said in a news briefing on Monday 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 Lebanese capital. The vault, he said, contained \u201ctens of millions of dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">Israel\u2019s minister of defense, Yoav Gallant, signed an order on Monday adding Al-Qard al-Hassan to a list of groups designated by Israel as terrorist organizations. The designation is part of a wider campaign led by Israel\u2019s defense establishment, targeting the economic resources of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"live-blog-post-content css-19v2tje eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-3e95d68a\">What is Al-Qard al-Hasan?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">In addition to its military wing, Hezbollah also functions as a political organization and provides a range of social services inside Lebanon. Al-Qard al-Hasan is registered as a charity in Lebanon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">The organization\u2019s name translates as \u201cbenevolent loan,\u201d lending money based on the principles of Islamic finance, which prohibits interest. The loans, usually no more than $5,000, are backed by deposits of gold, jewelry or other valuable goods. It also offers savings accounts and financial transfers, and processes payments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">The de facto bank, which has around 30 branches, is the largest microcredit organization in a country where <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/16\/world\/middleeast\/lebanon-banks-economic-crisis.html\" title=\"\">the traditional banking sector is in shambles<\/a>. It is not regulated by the central bank and is not part of the international banking system.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"live-blog-post-content css-19v2tje eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-2541418f\">Who uses the organization?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">Since its founding in the early 1980s, Hezbollah has been <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/19\/world\/middleeast\/hezbollah-lebanon-israel-explained.html\" title=\"\">a significant force in Lebanon<\/a>, wielding political power and military strength, as well as providing social support, particularly to the country\u2019s large Shiite population. The bank was set up in 1983 to serve the Shiite community, but it gained more clients in 2019 when the banking system all but collapsed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">The U.S. Treasury Department <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jy0170\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">claims<\/a> that the bank has been used by Hezbollah as \u201ca cover to manage the terrorist group\u2019s financial activities and gain access to the international financial system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">The department placed Al-Qard al-Hasan under sanctions in 2007 for operating as Hezbollah\u2019s de facto banking arm. In 2021, in the wake of the Lebanese financial crisis, the sanctions were strengthened, with the department <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jy0170\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">accusing<\/a> the association of \u201choarding hard currency that is desperately needed by the Lebanese economy\u201d and compromising the stability of the Lebanese state.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"imageblock-wrapper\">\n<figure class=\"img-sz-medium css-d754w4 e1g7ppur0\" aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\"><figcaption data-testid=\"photoviewer-children-caption\" class=\"css-gbc9ki ewdxa0s0\"><span class=\"css-jevhma e13ogyst0\">A branch of Al-Qard al-Hassan in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on Monday.<\/span><span class=\"css-1u46b97 e1z0qqy90\"><span class=\"css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0\">Credit&#8230;<\/span><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Mahmoud Zayyat\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"live-blog-post-content css-19v2tje eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-3a628919\">Why is Israel targeting Al-Qard al-Hasan?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/28\/business\/dealbook\/is-crypto-financing-terrorism.html\" title=\"\">Shlomit Wagman<\/a>, the former chair of Israel\u2019s Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Prohibition Authority, said Al-Qard al-Hasan has become Hezbollah\u2019s principal financial institution, responsible for safeguarding some $750 million a year in Iranian funding, as well as the proceeds from the organization\u2019s criminal enterprises that are used to finance its attacks on Israel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">In a statement following Sunday\u2019s attacks, Israel\u2019s military said that the banking association \u201cdirectly funds Hezbollah\u2019s terror activities,\u201d including the purchase of \u201cweapons and payments to operatives in Hezbollah\u2019s military wing.\u201d The strikes, it added, are part of Israel\u2019s efforts to \u201cdegrade Hezbollah\u2019s terror infrastructure, its military capabilities and ability to rebuild.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"live-blog-post-content css-19v2tje eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-19265d19\">What is the impact of the strikes?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">On Monday, the immediate damage from the strikes remained unclear, with no casualties reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">Few traditional bank branches would have significant amounts of cash on hand, Ms. Wagman said. But the international sanctions against Al-Qard al-Hasan meant it was more likely that its branches might have kept physical caches of dollars, as well as the gold of its depositors. If these were destroyed in the strikes, Hezbollah\u2019s ability to fund future attacks may be further reduced, Ms. Wagman said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">Still, she said, \u201cWe can also assume that Iran, which is the major sponsor of Hezbollah, will very soon refuel those supplies.\u201d She noted that the psychological impact may be more enduring, serving to \u201cfurther reduce the trust between Hezbollah and the Lebanese people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">Makram Ouaiss, executive director for the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, a Beirut-based research organization, said that Al-Qard al-Hasan probably knew it would be targeted, and likely would have moved valuables to a safe location. He also noted that most branches of Al-Qard al-Hasan in Beirut occupy the ground floor of mixed commercial and residential buildings. \u201cThis probably isn\u2019t going to hurt Hezbollah, but it will hurt lots of Lebanese,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"imageblock-wrapper\">\n<figure class=\"img-sz-medium css-d754w4 e1g7ppur0\" aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\"><figcaption data-testid=\"photoviewer-children-caption\" class=\"css-gbc9ki ewdxa0s0\"><span class=\"css-jevhma e13ogyst0\">A damaged building in Beirut on Monday after an Israeli airstrike that targeted branches of Al-Qard al-Hassan.<\/span><span class=\"css-1u46b97 e1z0qqy90\"><span class=\"css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0\">Credit&#8230;<\/span><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Wael Hamzeh\/EPA, via Shutterstock<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"live-blog-post-content css-19v2tje eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-91c2dad\">What is the economic situation in Lebanon?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">In a word, catastrophic. The traditional banking system all but collapsed in 2019, largely because of a combination of bad policy, bad loans and corruption. Account holders with mainstream banks have not been able to access most of their funds for several years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-h61jh5 evys1bk0\">The World Bank estimates that more than a third of the country is living below the poverty line, based on prewar data. With more than a million Lebanese people displaced and hundreds of buildings destroyed in the Israeli bombing campaign over the past month, the number of people living in poverty is likely to be far worse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"live-blog-post-content css-1smqmx3 etfikam0\">Johnatan Reiss<!-- -->and <!-- -->Euan Ward<!-- --> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2024\/10\/22\/world\/israel-iran-lebanon-hezbollah\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Israeli military conducted a wave of airstrikes across Lebanon on Sunday, targeting multiple branches of Al-Qard al-Hasan, a financial organization that functions as a bank and is associated with &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=117121\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117121\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}