Israel has informed the U.S.-led committee that oversees the ceasefire in Lebanon that Iran is sending suitcases full of U.S. dollars to Hezbollah through Beirut’s international airport, a report by the Wall Street Journal quotes an American defense official as saying.
He further said that Israel claims Turkish nationals are being used to smuggle cash from Istanbul to Beirut, which has also been conveyed to the Lebanese government in writing.
A Lebanese security official, also quoted by the newspaper, said Beirut airport is under tight military surveillance to avoid smuggling attempts by Hezbollah. The modalities of sending large amounts of cash from the airport are very cumbersome, the official conceded, adding, “Obviously, expensive items like gemstones and diamonds could slip through.”.
The truce, signed on November 27, ended two months of heavy fighting after months of lighter skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah. In the most recent military campaign, Israel killed a significant part of Hezbollah’s leadership and also struck the Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial institution, which operates over 30 outlets across Lebanon. Washington and Jerusalem claim that this institution is used in money laundering and financing terrorism, which Hezbollah has denied every time these accusations have surfaced.
In total, the Iran-backed group slammed northern Israel in a fresh crescendo of hostilities only a day after October 7, 2023, when an assault by the Palestinian ally in Israel, Hamas, set the ongoing conflict in Gaza ablaze. The clashes have displaced tens of thousands of Israeli residents from the north to other parts as rocket fire spilled into the center of the nation.
