New attacks

Israeli army destroys Hamas money bunker

(Bild: AFP/AFP )

The southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut were once again rocked by Israeli air strikes during the night. The army also discovered hundreds of millions of dollars belonging to the Iran-backed Hezbollah in a bunker under a hospital in the south of Beirut.

Israel's military had ordered the residents of certain buildings to evacuate and continues to attack the financial structures of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah in the country. A bunker was discovered under the al-Sahel clinic in the south of the capital. The financial assets were estimated by the military at around half a billion dollars.

Army spokesman Daniel Hagari called on the Lebanese government and international organizations not to allow Hezbollah to use the assets stashed under the al-Sahel clinic in the south of Beirut for terrorist purposes and attacks on Israel.

I would like to emphasize: We are not at war with the Lebanese people.

Daniel Hagari

The air force is monitoring the area, he warned. However, the hospital itself would not be attacked. "I would like to emphasize: We are not at war with the Lebanese people."

Video: Army spokesman Hagari accuses Iran of sending "suitcases of cash and gold by plane to the Iranian embassy in Beirut" before they "then go directly to Hezbollah"

Area of university hospital hit
According to the Lebanese state news agency NNA, the Haret Hreik neighborhood was one of the areas hit in the attacks on southern Beirut. One of the Israeli airstrikes is also said to have hit the area around the university hospital.

Hezbollah bank targeted
Since Monday night, the Israeli army has also been targeting branches of the Al-Kard Al-Hassan association, a kind of Hezbollah bank. Almost 30 targets throughout Lebanon have been bombed, explained Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in the early evening. 

Attacks on the south of Beirut on Monday evening

(Bild: AFP/AFP )

(Bild: AFP)

Attacks on the south of Beirut on Monday evening

(Bild: KameraOne)

In a targeted airstrike in Syria's capital Damascus, the successor to the recently killed finance chief of the Hezbollah militia was also eliminated.

Economic crisis in Lebanon further exacerbated
Hezbollah should not be given the opportunity to regroup, emphasized Israel's army. The two most important sources of income for their terrorist activities are direct donations from Iran in the form of cash and gold - as well as the citizens of Lebanon, said Hagari. People are offered financial services through the Al-Kard Al-Hassan association. By continuing to smuggle US dollars into Lebanon, Iran was devaluing the national currency and exacerbating the already severe economic crisis in Lebanon.

Hagari also accused Hezbollah of financing itself through companies in Turkey, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. He did not say in his video message which companies in the NATO country Turkey were involved.