Israel claims $500 million found stashed in ‘secret’ Hezbollah bunker
The Israeli Army on Monday said that it has gathered declassified intelligence about the presence of a hidden Hezbollah bunker beneath a hospital in Beirut, Lebanon.
The IDF believes that this “secret” bunker is Hezbollah’s financial hub, as it contained hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold, discovered after an Israeli strike hit the hospital.
Targeted airstrikes were conducted by Israeli military on Sunday night against Beirut, with the air force aiming for Hezbollah’s financial assets. IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said during a televised briefing that the bunker was built directly under the Al-Sahel Hospital in central Beirut.
Hagari said during the briefing, “Tonight, I am going to declassify intelligence on a site that we did not strike-where Hezbollah has millions of dollars in gold and cash in Hassan Nasrallah’s bunker. The bunker is located directly under Al-Sahel Hospital in the heart of Beirut.”
Claiming that around $500 million were present inside the Hezbollah bunker, he said, “According to estimates, there is at least half a billion dollars in dollar bills and gold stored in this bunker. This money could and still can be used to rebuild the state of Lebanon.”
“One of our main targets last night was an underground vault with millions of dollars in cash and gold. The money was being used to finance Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel,” the IDF spokesperson added, as quoted by AFP.
However, Lebanese lawmaker Fadi Alameh, who is also the director of the hospital in question, told Reuters that Israel was making false and slanderous claims, urging the military to visit the hospital and show the world that it only had operation rooms and a morgue.
Alameh also said that the hospital was being evacuated and and the Israeli ministry had reassured them that they would not hit the facility.
Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi told troops in Lebanon that overnight between Sunday and Monday, aircraft had struck around 30 sites belonging to Al-Qard al-Hassan, which Israel says is Hezbollah’s financial arm.
It is expected that more strikes against Hezbollah’s financial assets will continue, said Israeli military.