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JERUSALEM, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) — Israel’s military said on Monday that it had destroyed about 70 percent of Hezbollah’s rocket capabilities, dismantled parts of its financial network, and killed a senior Hezbollah official in Syria who oversaw the group’s money transfers.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it had killed seven Hezbollah brigade commanders, 21 battalion commanders, and 24 company commanders.
The IDF added that since the beginning of its ground offensive in Lebanon in early October, it had struck more than 3,200 sites in the country, including hundreds of weapons storage facilities, rocket launchers, anti-tank positions, and command and control centers.
Roughly 300 of those targets were hit in the last 24 hours alone, according to the military.
Citing senior security officials, Israel’s Channel 13 TV news reported that Hezbollah retains about 30 percent of its rocket capabilities, a significant reduction from the beginning of the conflict in October.
Later in a press briefing, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israeli warplanes had bombed around 20 Hezbollah sites linked with financial network overnight from Sunday to Monday, with most of the strikes focused on Beirut. The strikes, Hagari said, are expected to resume tonight.
Among the targets was an underground warehouse belonging to the Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association, a Hezbollah-affiliated financial organization operating primarily in Lebanon with headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburb, where Hezbollah’s headquarters are located.
According to Hagari, Hezbollah had stockpiled cash and gold worth “tens of millions of dollars, intended for living expenses and post-war reconstruction” in this underground warehouse.
Hagari also said that under Al-Sahel Hospital, in Beirut’s southern suburb, Hezbollah had built an underground bunker storing “at least half a billion dollars in cash and gold.”
The bunker, described as a central financial hub, was not struck, but Hagari warned that Israeli aircraft were monitoring the site closely. “We will continue to track it,” he added.
According to the spokesman, Hezbollah has established a financial network involving Yemen, Lebanon, Türkiye, and Syria. The network was managed by Mohammad Jaafar Qasir and Sheikh Salah, the head of Unit 4400, which is responsible for financial transfers and the financial management of Hezbollah.
Qasir was killed by Israel in Beirut in early October, and according to Hagari, his successor was also killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria on Monday.
The crackdown on Hezbollah’s financial network, Hagari added, aims to “deal a blow to its primary financial centers, making it difficult for the group to restore its capabilities.”
Also on Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signed an order designating the Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association as a terrorist organization. The decision, Gallant said in a statement, was due to “the financing of terrorism through the purchase of weapons, payment of salaries to terrorists, and the storage of Hezbollah funds within the association’s facilities.”
The confrontation between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, since its onset on Oct. 8, 2023, has killed more than 2,300 people, injured over 11,000 others, and displaced about 1.2 million residents in Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities. ■
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