Hospital defends itself:

“There are only patients, not a Hezbollah bunker”

The journalists were allowed to film and photograph everything in the Al-Sahel clinic.

(Bild: APA/AP)

In the fight against the financial structures of the pro-Iranian terrorist militia Hezbollah, the Israeli army has targeted several buildings in the Lebanese capital Beirut in recent days. According to the Israelis, they have discovered a bunker under a hospital where Hezbollah's gold and money reserves worth around half a billion US dollars are said to have been stored. The hospital is defending itself and has invited both UN representatives and international journalists to take a look at Israel's "lies".

Israel's 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. He warned that the air force was monitoring the area. However, the hospital itself would not be attacked. "I would like to emphasize: We are not at war with the Lebanese people," Hagari said.

The director of the hospital, Fadi Alameh, denied the accusations and announced in an interview on Lebanese television that the hospital would be evacuated as a precautionary measure. "The Israeli accusations are untrue and a way to justify the attacks on Lebanon and its facilities," he wrote on Platform X.

The journalists were allowed to film and photograph everything in the Al-Sahel clinic.

(Bild: APA/AP)

The management of the Al Sahel Clinic fears that the security of the healthcare facility may now be threatened because of the suspected Hezbollah bunker.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Anwar AMRO)

Head of hospital: "These are fabricated allegations"
He told the television station Al Jadeed: "It is a private hospital. There are underground operating theaters, there are patients. There are no tunnels, no bunker, these are fabricated claims." Alameh called on the Lebanese army and the UN mission UNIFIL to search the building to prove whether there were "tunnels" or not.

International journalists were invited on Tuesday to see for themselves. They were given access to all areas of the health facility (see video above). Afterwards, the press representatives who took part in the tour reported that they had found nothing there that "would not have been found in another hospital".

Israeli army: "Journalists were in the wrong place"
An Israeli army spokesperson explained that the guided tour had been in the wrong place. The entrance to the bunker was in the basement of an adjacent building. "The entrance could have been barricaded to make it harder to find. We invite you to come to this location for a local inspection," was the message to the media.