Hezbollah hiding more than $500M in gold, cash under hospital in Lebanon, IDF says
Israel said it has no plans to target the bunker hiding trove under the al-Sahel hospital in Beirut
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terror proxy, is hiding $500 million in gold and cash in a secret bunker formerly run by the group's deceased leader under a hospital in Beruit, Israeli military officials said Monday.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, said the Israeli Air Force was monitoring the vault "deliberately" located beneath the al-Sahel hospital, but there were no plans to target the structure.
Israel has targeted the terror group in recent weeks after a year of Hezbollah strikes launched toward Israel's north, forcing many in the area to flee.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Israeli military said Hezbollah has a bunker hidden under the al Sahel hospital in Beirut filled with more than $500 million in cash and gold. (Israel Defense Forces)
"The bunker was deliberately placed under a hospital, and it holds more than half a billion dollars in cash and gold," Hagari said. "That money could have been used to rehabilitate Lebanon, but it went to rehabilitate Hezbollah."
The bunker is connected to the hospital and is filled with beds and rooms used for long stays and space for directing operations, the IDF said. The IDF also said the site belonged to Hassan Nasrallah, the terror group's slain leader who was killed during an Israeli airstrike in September.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hagari appealed to Lebanese officials to rein in Hezbollah and inspect the site.
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A 3-D presentation released by the IDF shows where hundreds of millions of dollars belonging to Hezbollah are being stored in an underground bunker. (Israel Defense Forces)
"I’m calling on the Lebanese government, Lebanese authorities and the international organizations: Don’t allow Hezbollah to use the money for terror and to attack Israel," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fadi Alameh, the director of the hospital, reportedly said the facility was being evacuated.
"You are located near facilities and interests belonging to Hezbollah, which the Israeli army will target in the near future," he reportedly wrote on X.
The IDF has accused Hezbollah, as well as Hamas, of hiding weapons and housing its terrorist fighters in hospitals, schools and other sensitive locations.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hagari also detailed how Iran transfers money to Hezbollah and other ways the terror group finances its operations. Hezbollah's financial arm, Al-Qard Al-Hasan, provides financial services to Lebanese civilians and pays the salaries of Hezbollah's operatives, he said.
A rendering of al Sahel hospital in Beirut and the underground bunker Israel claims is hiding cash and gold for Hezbollah. (Israel Defense Forces)
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Iran's Quds Force transfers money to Hezbollah from Iranian oil sold in Syria, and the Islamic Republic also sends suitcases of cash and gold by plane to the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, which distributes it directly to Hezbollah, the IDF said.