Flames and smoke rise during an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday.

Hussein Malla/AP

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Hussein Malla/AP

BEIRUT – The Israeli military announced Sunday that it is now targeting the financial arm of Lebanon-based Hezbollah and will attack a “large number of targets” in Beirut and elsewhere. About an hour later, the explosions began in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Evacuation warnings affected southern Beirut, the eastern Beqaa Valley and parts of southern Lebanon. AP video showed strikes near Lebanon’s only airport, but it remained operational.

The attacks will hit al-Qard al-Hassan “across Lebanon,” a senior Israeli intelligence official said. Al-Qard al-Hassan is a Hezbollah unit used to pay operatives of the Iran-backed militant group and help buy weapons. the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with army regulations.

The registered non-profit organization, approved by the US and Saudi Arabia, provides financial services and is also used by ordinary Lebanese. The name means “the benevolent loan” in Arabic, and Hezbollah has used it to consolidate its support among the Shiite population in a country where state and financial institutions have failed in recent years.

“It’s a big problem,” said David Asher, an expert on illicit finance who has worked at the U.S. Departments of Defense and State and is now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

“AQAH is a money-based organization. The cash will be waste in case of strikes,” he said, adding that the country has large accounts in major Lebanese banks.

Al-Qard al-Hassan in a statement called the decision to target this a sign of Israel’s “bankruptcy” and assured customers that it had taken “measures” to ensure their money was safe. A stream of people left the areas around the Beirut facilities.

In one evacuation message for the Choueifat area south of Beirut, the Israeli army mislabeled one target, causing confusion and panic. The location was labeled Grand Cinema ABC Verdun, a theater in a luxury shopping center in the center of Beirut, more than ten kilometers away.

A year of escalating tensions and frequent cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah over the war in Gaza turned into an all-out war last month. Israel sent ground troops to Lebanon at the beginning of this month.

Israel’s announcement came a day after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called the number of civilian casualties in Lebanon “far too high” in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, and urged Israel to scale back some attacks , especially in and around Beirut.

The Lebanese army says three soldiers have been killed in an Israeli attack

Israel has stepped up attacks on Beirut’s southern neighborhoods known as the Dahiyeh, a busy residential area where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It is also home to many civilians with no ties to the militant group.

In southern Lebanon, the Lebanese army said three soldiers were killed in an Israeli attack on their vehicle. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army, which said it had struck more than 100 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the past day and continued ground operations there.

The Lebanese army has largely remained on the sidelines during the war. The army is a respected institution in Lebanon, but is not powerful enough to impose its will on Hezbollah or defend the country against an Israeli invasion.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah fired more than 170 rockets into the country on Sunday. Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom said three people were slightly injured in a fire caused by a rocket attack on the northern city of Safed.

At the center is the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL, which said Israeli forces on Sunday “deliberately demolished a watchtower and a perimeter fence of a UN position” in southern Lebanon. It again resisted Israeli pressure to abandon its positions.

Iran is backing Lebanon-based Hezbollah, and the United States is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents showing that Israel provided military resources for a military strike in response to Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack, three U.S. officials said. . They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Medics warn of a catastrophic situation in Gaza

At least 87 people were killed or missing in Israeli attacks on homes in northern Gaza overnight and Sunday, the territory’s health ministry said, as a large-scale operation continued against Hamas militants who were reportedly regrouping.

The ministry said another 40 people were injured in the attacks on the town of Beit Lahiya, one of the first targets of Israel’s ground invasion almost a year ago. The Israeli army said it had hit a Hamas target.

The dead included parents and eight children, according to Raheem Kheder, a doctor. He said the strike razed a multi-storey building and at least four neighboring houses.

The Israeli military said it used precision ammunition against a Hamas target.

The US is urging Israel to push for a ceasefire in Gaza following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week. But neither Israel nor Hamas have shown interest in such an agreement after negotiations stalled in August.

In central Gaza, six people, including a child, were killed when an attack hit a car in Deir al-Balah, Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital officials said. The bodies were counted by AP journalists.

Médecins Sans Frontières, the international charity known by its French acronym Médecins Sans Frontières, called on Israeli forces to immediately stop their attacks on hospitals in northern Gaza after the Health Ministry said Israeli forces targeted two hospitals over the weekend shot.

The Israeli military said it was operating near a hospital but had not fired directly at it.

Internet connectivity in northern Gaza went down late Saturday, making it difficult to gather information about strikes and complicating rescue efforts.

Israel ordered the entire population of the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, to evacuate south in the opening weeks of the war and reiterated those instructions this month. It is believed that approximately 400,000 people remained.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping another 250. About 100 prisoners are still held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be in custody. be dead.

According to local health authorities, which do not distinguish between fighters and civilians, the Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians. The war has destroyed large parts of Gaza and displaced about 90% of the population of 2.3 million people.