Israel's military announced Sunday it will now take aim at the Lebanon-based Hezbollah's financial arm and plans to attack a "large number of targets" in the coming hours in Beirut and elsewhere. (Pics/AFP)
Updated On: 2024-10-21 10:11 AM IST
Compiled by : ronak mastakar
Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said they will issue evacuation warnings for people in parts of Beirut, and "anyone who will be near the sites used to finance Hezbollah's terrorist activity is required to stay away from them immediately"
The strikes will target al-Qard al-Hassan "all over Lebanon," a senior Israeli intelligence official said
Al-Qard al-Hassan is a unit in Hezbollah that's used to pay operatives of the Iran-backed militant group and help buy arms, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with army regulations
The registered nonprofit, sanctioned by both the US and Saudi Arabia, provides financial services and is also used by ordinary Lebanese
The scope of the new Israeli evacuation warnings was not immediately clear
A year of escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah over the war in Gaza turned into all-out war last month, and Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon early this month
Israel's announcement came a day after US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin called civilian casualties in Lebanon "far too high" in the Israel-Hezbollah war, and urged Israel to scale back some strikes, especially in and around Beirut
Iran supports the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, and the United States is investigating an unauthorised release of classified documents indicating that Israel was moving military assets into place for a military strike in response to Iran's ballistic missile attack on October 1, according to three US officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to discuss the matter publicly
The Lebanese army said three soldiers were killed in an Israeli strike on Sunday on their vehicle in southern Lebanon. There was no immediate comment on that from the Israeli military, which said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the past day and continued ground operations there