After Israeli air strikes on Sunday evening, smoke was seen rising above Beirut’s southern suburbs
Published on 20 October 2024
The Israeli military warned residents of 24 areas in Lebanon, including 14 in Beirut’s capital, that it planned to conduct strikes in the next few hours and through the night.
The Israel Defense Forces announced that they would target Hezbollah‘s financial infrastructure, including banks and other financial institutions.
A BBC correspondent in Beirut reported that eight air strikes were carried out in the southern Dahieh District of the capital, which is controlled by Hezbollah.
State-run media in Lebanon also reported an attack in the east. It is not known if there were any injuries.
Hezbollah has said that it fired more rockets at Israel on Sunday, aiming at military bases.
In a Sunday evening statement, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari advised that “anyone who is located near sites used to finance Hezbollah terror activities must leave these locations immediately”.
He said, “We will hit several targets over the next few hours and more targets throughout the night.”
The Israeli spokesman said: “In the next few days, we’ll reveal how Iran finances Hezbollah terror activities using civilian institutions, associations and NGOs which act as fronts of terrorism.”
The state-run National News Agency of Lebanon (NNA), reported a strike at the bank Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association in the eastern Bekaa Valley.
Israel accuses this association of funding Hezbollah.
The IDF reported earlier in the day that dozens projectiles had been fired in the last 24 hours at northern Israel.
It also claimed that its warplanes carried out “an intelligence-based attack on a command center of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut and an underground weapons factory”.
It said that steps had been taken “to reduce the possibility of civilian deaths”.
Hezbollah officials and Lebanese officials have accused Israel of targeting civilians. Israel denies this accusation.
On Sunday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon accused the IDF for deliberately demolishing a perimeter fence and an observation tower of a UN post in the southern Lebanese city of Marwahin near the border with Israel. This incident follows similar ones in recent weeks.
“Yet Again, we note that a breach of a UN position or damaging UN assets is flagrant violation to international law and Security Council Resolution 1701,” Unifil said in a press release.
In a separate incident, the Lebanese Army said that three of its soldiers were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit a military vehicle in Nabatieh (southern Lebanon).
Israel has yet to comment on the two reported incidents.
Since the fighting escalated in late last month, Lebanon’s army had historically avoided cross-border clashes with Israel and Hezbollah. However, a number have been killed by Israeli attacks.
Hezbollah, a powerful militant group from Lebanon, says it has fired on Israeli positions to show solidarity with Hamas.
Iran is a supporter of both Hezbollah as well as Hamas.
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