Beirut —
Lebanese state media reported on Sunday that Israel had attacked branches of a Hezbollah-affiliated financial association, including one near the country’s only airport, after Israeli forces threatened to attack al-Qad al-Hassan branches.
The airstrike marks an expansion of Israel’s operations against the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah after a year of cross-border exchanges escalated into a full-scale war in late September.
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that 11 airstrikes were carried out on the southern outskirts of Beirut, many of them targeting al-Qat al-Hassan, which Israel said financed Hezbollah’s operations against Israel. claims to provide.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that the military was stepping up attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon and was “destroying sites that Hezbollah planned to use as launching pads for attacks against Israel.”
He warned that the IDF was about to attack al-Qaad al-Hassan’s offices and called on residents to vacate the premises.
Shortly after Israel’s warning, several explosions were heard and a large fire broke out in Beirut’s southern suburbs. There was no immediate information about the explosion or details of casualties.
Witnesses said panicked crowds in some parts of Beirut filled roads and caused traffic jams as they tried to get to areas they thought were safer.
“The population of Lebanon, the IDF (Israeli Army) launches an attack on infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah al-Qad al-Hassan association. Leave immediately,” an Israeli military spokesperson said on X (formerly Twitter). said in a statement.
According to NNA, the airstrike landed near Beirut’s airport. The airport is the main entry point for humanitarian aid into the country and a major evacuation center for people fleeing conflict.
Civilian planes could still be seen flying through clouds of smoke over the war-torn southern suburbs, according to an AFP correspondent who watched the plane land at Beirut’s airport, near the target area. It is said that there is
AFP footage showed plumes of smoke billowing near one of the airport’s runways and over neighborhoods in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been hard hit by the nearly month-long war.
Air strikes destroyed entire buildings on the outskirts of Chiyar, AFP footage showed. Excavators worked to clear debris as rescue teams searched for survivors.
An AFP correspondent said the building housed a branch of Al-Qad Al-Hassan.
The NNA also reported strikes targeting associations in Hermel, Riyak, and Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley region of eastern Lebanon.
According to NNA, the attack on Baalbek hit a commercial market housing a building once occupied by Al-Qaad al-Hassan. An AFP correspondent said residents were quickly evacuated from the area after the Israeli military issued a warning.
In southern Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes hit branches near the cities of Sidon and Nabatiyeh, according to NNA.
panic, evacuation
The airstrikes came after Israeli forces announced attacks on the association’s branches in Beirut, Bekaa and southern Lebanon, and issued evacuation warnings for more than a dozen buildings in the capital Beirut alone.
An AFP correspondent in the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon said Israel’s announcement caused panic among displaced residents sheltering near the al-Qaad al-Hassan branch.
The correspondent said many people rushed out of the school where they had been evacuated and headed for the coast and other parts of the city on foot.
According to NNA, the mayor of Sidon ordered the evacuation of the city’s municipalities and two evacuation centers housing evacuees.
Rescue workers and paramedics, including fire teams, have been told to “be on high alert for any emergency situation”, NNA said.
“We will prepare for all possibilities and we ask God to protect our city and Lebanon.”
The U.S.-sanctioned Al-Qaad al-Hassan is a financial group that the U.S. Treasury alleges has been used by Hezbollah as a front to mask its financial activities and gain access to the international financial system.
Asked by journalists whether these branches could be considered military targets, a senior Israeli intelligence official said: “The purpose of this attack is to support Hezbollah, which is rebuilding and rearming not only during the war but also afterward.” “It’s about targeting the ability of the economy to function.” the next day. ”
A senior Israeli intelligence official said the company is an integral part of a financial network that helps finance Hezbollah.
