“Beirut in flames” – Israel laments the death of Lebanese soldiers

A truck was attacked on Sunday in an area where a truck belonging to the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah had previously been attacked. The Hezbollah truck was carrying rockets. It later became clear that it was a Lebanese army truck and that three soldiers were killed.

“Israel takes no action against the Lebanese army”
“The arrival of a Lebanese army truck was not known to the Israeli army,” the statement said. “The Israeli army is not taking any action against the Lebanese army and apologizes for these undesirable circumstances.” The Lebanese army remains neutral in the conflict between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia. However, the Lebanese forces have already come under fire in recent weeks and then fired back. Lebanese soldiers are also said to have been killed.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah fired another salvo of rockets into northern Israel. According to the Israeli military, about 40 projectiles flew from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Some of them were intercepted by the missile defenses, others were hit. Initially there were no reports of damage or injuries. The military said its air force struck 15 Hezbollah rocket launchers in Lebanon that targeted civilians in northern Israel. These include ramps used in recent rocket attacks.

On Sunday and Monday evening the emphasis was mainly on Hezbollah’s “financial center”. Targeted attacks were carried out on dozens of facilities and installations used by Hezbollah “to finance its terrorist activities against the State of Israel,” the Israeli military said. The attacks took place in the Beirut area, in southern Lebanon and deep inland. The army confirmed the attack on the Al-Kard Al-Hassan association. It manages funds that finance Hezbollah’s activities, including the purchase of weapons and payments to members of Hezbollah’s military wing.

According to the US Treasury Department, Al-Kard Al-Hassan is used by Hezbollah as a front to conceal financial activities and gain access to the international financial system.

Residents of Beirut: “All you see is damage”
Residents of Beirut reported severe destruction. “You can’t see anything but damage,” a resident named Ali told dpa. An attacked building of Al-Kard al-Hassan, a kind of Hezbollah’s own bank, was completely destroyed and adjacent buildings were damaged, he said. The Hezbollah militia cordoned off the neighborhood after the attacks and allowed only residents to enter the area.

Hezbollah, which is an ally of Iran and the radical Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas, also said it had attacked Israeli soldiers in several border towns in southern Lebanon. They fired several rocket salvos at Israeli forces on the eastern outskirts of Markaba.