Israel identified a Hezbollah bunker on Monday located beneath a Beirut hospital. Hezbollah is storing more than $500 million in gold and cash in the bunker, according to IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.
“Tonight, we’re exposing Hezbollah’s financial network,” he said in a video released Monday on X. The clip features an illustration of the bunker built under the residential Al-Sahel Hospital.
“The bunker was deliberately placed under a hospital, and it holds more than half a billion dollars in cash and gold,” Hagari claimed. “That money could have been used to rehabilitate Lebanon, but it went to rehabilitate Hezbollah.”
The announcement comes one day after Israel targeted Al-Qard al-Hasan — the financial organization that Israel says functions as Hezbollah’s main financial arm amid the country’s enduring economic crisis.
The organization has been under U.S. sanctions since 2007 while Israeli and Saudi officials have also accused the network of having ties to Hezbollah. It has come to play an increasingly large role in Lebanon as the traditional banking system remains in turmoil. It is not uncommon for Lebanese depositors to raid banks demanding their own money back.
Israel has been striking Al-Qard al-Hasan infrastructure across the country, including in Beirut. However, Hagari urged the Lebanese government to act, noting that Israel has not struck the newly discovered bunker. Israel, he said, will be monitoring the area.
Hagari stated that “Hezbollah’s financial network is made up of . . . money from the Iranian regime.”
“Iran’s Quds forces transfer money to Hezbollah from Iranian oil sold in Syria,” he said. “Iran also sends suitcases of cash and gold by planes to the Iranian Embassy in Beirut and then directly to Hezbollah.”
The sudden infusion of smuggled Iranian funds not only endangers Israel, Hagari said, but also undermines the already devastated Lebanese economy.
“The IDF will not allow Hezbollah to regroup and rearm,” Hagari assured.