10/22/2024October 22, 2024UN criticizes ‘damage to civilian objects’ after Israeli strikes on finance group
The United Nations on Monday condemned airstrikes that Israel claimed had targeted the militant group Hezbollah‘s financial system in Lebanon.
More than a dozen sites tied to Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a financial firm linked to Hezbollah, were hit in strikes carried out across Lebanon on Sunday.
Israel’s bombing campaign came two weeks after Israel assassinated an individual it called “Hezbollah’s finance minister.”
Israel has said that it is now focused on Hezbollah’s finance system after having killed most of the group’s top political and military leaders.
It said it struck around 300 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over 24 hours, ramping up its offensive to hit the group’s finances.
US envoy Amos Hochstein visited Lebanon in a bid to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said Monday there was no alternative to UN Resolution 1701 but added that “new understandings” could be reached to implement it.
The resolution, which ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, called for the Lebanese militant group to withdraw towards the north of the Litani River away from the Israel border and mandated a UN peacekeeping mission to help the Lebanese army control the area free from the presence of Hezbollah or Israel.
However, Israel maintains that the resolution was never implemented, and that Hezbollah has built up extensive military infrastructure.
rc,fmt/wmr (AFP, AP dpa, Reuters)