DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip –
Israel’s military announced Sunday it will now take aim at the Lebanon-based Hezbollah’s financial arm and planned to attack a “large number of targets” in the coming hours in Beirut and elsewhere. Explosions began in Beirut’s southern suburbs about an hour later.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said they were issuing evacuation warnings and “anyone who will be near the sites used to finance Hezbollah’s terrorist activity is required to stay away from them immediately.” The first warnings affected southern Beirut and the eastern Bekaa valley.
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 said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with army regulations.
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