BEIRUT (AP) – Lebanese were surveying the damage yesterday after overnight Israeli strikes hit nearly a dozen branches of a Hezbollah-run financial institution that Israel said is used to fund attacks but where many ordinary people keep their savings.
The strikes targeted Al-Qard Al-Hassan branches in the southern neighbourhoods of Beirut, across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa, where Hezbollah has a strong presence.
One strike flattened a nine-storey building with a branch inside it. Smoke was still rising from several locations yesterday and bulldozers were removing the debris.
The Israeli military had issued evacuation warnings ahead of the strikes, and there were no reports of casualties. Israel invaded Lebanon earlier this month, saying it aims to push Hezbollah back from the border after more than a year of rocket, missile and drone attacks that began on October 7, 2023.
Israeli airstrikes have pounded large areas of Lebanon for weeks, forcing over a million people to flee their homes.
Local Lebanese TV networks sought to reassure the public that areas in central Beirut were not listed as targets after a map issued by the Israeli military indicated it would target an upscale mall that was incorrectly labeled as the location of a branch. The Israeli military did not target the site.
Bulldozers were clearing mounds of rubble on yesterday at the site of one of the strikes.
Clothes, furniture and the remains of a beauty salon poked out among the debris. Al-Qard al-Hassan documents were scattered across the area, but there was no sign of cash or other valuables. The institution, which has more than 30 branches across Lebanon, tried to reassure customers, saying it had evacuated all its branches and relocated gold and other deposits to safe areas.
The registered nonprofit, sanctioned by the United States (US) and Saudi Arabia, has long served as an alternative to Lebanon’s banks, which have imposed restrictions in the face of a severe financial crisis that began in 2019.
Its name in Arabic means “the benevolent loan”, and Hezbollah has used it to entrench its support among the population in a country where state and financial institutions have failed in recent years. Still, many of its customers are civilians unaffiliated with Hezbollah. The strikes came after US Defense 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.
