Israel wants to crush Hezbollah financially - in just one night in Beirut, 11 strikes were carried out against affiliates of the "Al Qard al Hassan" company. The financial institution, which is controlled by Hezbollah, operates like a bank, and a large part of the financial flows to the organization go through it.
Serious financial institution with decades of history
Translated, the name of the company means "the good loan", Martin Durm tells ARD. It follows the Islamic principle that no interest can be charged on borrowed money. Hezbollah founded the financial institution back in the early 1980s as a charity and has repeatedly stated that it is a socially oriented non-governmental organization. But in fact, over the years it has developed as a serious financial institution with 34 branches in the Shia areas of Lebanon.
"Al Qard al Hasan" it even profited from the collapse of the banking system in Lebanon in 2019, when millions lost their savings. Since the company operates without a license and parallel to the other banks, it was hardly affected by the crisis. Thousands of Shias put all their remaining money into the Hizbullah company to keep them safe.
Hezbollah is far from bankrupt
The Israeli attacks are certainly a heavy blow to Hezbollah. In addition to the military wing of the organization, designated as a terrorist organization by multiple countries, it supports a political party as well as health centers and schools in the country. For this purpose, he needs a lot of money, which must somehow be transferred from the commercial banks he works with.
Despite the unrelenting strikes, Hezbollah is far from bankrupt either militarily or financially, writes ARD. For decades, the Shiite militia has been subsidized by Iran with money and weapons, and according to information from Western intelligence services, it also receives large revenues from drug trafficking and money laundering. It is believed that the branches of "Al Qard al Hassan" play an important role in all of this.
Author: Martin Durm SWR