Al-Qard Al-Hassan, or AQAH, has been under US sanctions since 2007, with the US Treasury Department describing the bank as being used by Hezbollah “as a front to manage the terrorist group’s financial activities” and to “gain access for the international financial system.”

In the years since, Finance Ministry officials have continued to accuse Hezbollah of using the bank to “abuse the Lebanese financial sector and drain Lebanon’s financial resources at an already difficult time” in a country struggling with a series of long-lasting economic and political crises.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan has more than 30 branches across Lebanon, many of which are located in the Shiite-majority southern suburbs of Beirut, according to local media.

Israel’s attacks on the bank’s branches mark an expansion of the war against Hezbollah beyond what the IDF has described as attacking Hezbollah military sites.

During his briefing, Hagari said that “in the coming days” Israeli officials “will reveal how Iran finances Hezbollah’s terrorist activities by using civilian institutions, associations and NGOs that act as fronts for terrorism.”

Hagari said dozens of projectiles had been fired into northern Israel in the 24 hours before the Israeli army began issuing evacuation orders ahead of Sunday evening’s attacks.

In a separate statement, the IDF said on Monday that Israeli soldiers also continued to carry out ground attacks on southern Lebanon and had dismantled “large quantities of Hezbollah weapons”, while also killing Hezbollah members, including “tactical-level commanders”.

At least 2,464 people, including 127 children, have been killed in Lebanon since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah began escalating last year following Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack, while an estimated 1.2 million people have been displaced, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry . from their homes.