The Israeli army said it hit a Hezbollah bunker containing "tens of millions of dollars" during its offensive in Lebanon against the financial interests of the Lebanese Islamist movement, AFP reported, quoted by BTA .
Israel, which has been carrying out bombings against “Hezbollah” in Lebanon, accompanied from September 30 by a ground offensive to push the Iran-backed group's fighters away from its border, wants to reduce its ability to finance its operations.
"The Israeli Air Force conducted a series of precision strikes against Hezbollah's financial interests," army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a media briefing.
“One of our priority targets was an underground safe containing tens of millions of dollars in cash and gold. The money was used to finance the attacks of “Hezbollah” against Israel”, he added and emphasized that the bunker was “deliberately located under a residential building”, without specifying exactly where it was.
Israel's military spokesman said the Shia militia is partially funded through factories in Turkey, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon, DPA reported. “Hezbollah“ has built factories in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Turkey that provide revenue for its terrorist operations,” Hagari said, without providing details on which factories are based in NATO country Turkey.
The two main sources of income for the terrorist activities of “Hezbollah” are direct contributions from Iran in the form of cash and gold and the citizens of Lebanon, Hagari said.
“Hezbollah” earns money from Lebanese citizens by offering them financial services through the association “Al Qard al Hassan”, Hagari said. The Hezbollah-run financial institution essentially operates as a bank, although it is not registered as such. On Sunday evening, the Israeli military bombed branches of the financial institution.
Right-wing ultra-nationalist Israelis held a rally on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip yesterday to call on Jewish settlers to renew their settlement in the Palestinian enclave, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
At the demonstration entitled "Return to Gaza" members, delegates and a minister from the conservative party "Likud" were invited. of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"If we want, we can resume settlement in the Gaza Strip," ultra-nationalist Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, minister of national security in Netanyahu's cabinet, told the participants in the rally, the Times of Israel reported.< /p>
"We can do something else - to encourage emigration. The truth is that this is the most ethical and the most correct decision," he said, while at the same time insisting that Palestinians should not be forced to leave Gaza.
Ben-Gvir and other ultranationalists have repeatedly called for Israeli settlers to return to the Gaza Strip.
Speaker of "Likud" specified that the event was not organized by the party, but rather a "local initiative".
US President Joe Biden is "deeply troubled" on the occasion of the release of classified documents about Israel's preparation for a possible retaliatory attack against Iran, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said today that the US administration is still unsure whether the classified information that became public was leaked or hacked.
Kirby added that, at this stage, US administration officials have no indication whether "additional documents like this will be released into the public domain". He said the Pentagon is looking into the matter.
"We are deeply alarmed and the President remains deeply troubled by any leakage of classified information into the public domain. This shouldn't happen and it's unacceptable when it does,'' said the National Security Council spokesman at the White House.
A cease-fire in Lebanon is "a necessity for our collective security," said French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecorneau, AFP reported, quoted by BTA.
In an interview with El Ce Y TV, he expressed concern that there is an imminent danger of civil war breaking out in this country.
Besides humanitarian issues, the international conference on Lebanon scheduled for Thursday in Paris aims to provide the Lebanese army with the resources it needs to "guarantee Lebanon's sovereignty.
For nearly a month, Israel has been bombing “Hezbollah” in Lebanon, accompanied from September 30 by a ground offensive to push the Iran-backed group's fighters back from its border.
For the French minister “the series of tactical victories by neutralizing a certain number of terrorists - which, to be quite clear, we will not regret - does not offer obvious and automatic security prospects for the State of Israel in the medium and long term, this it is certain“.