(Bloomberg) -- Israel widened its bombing campaign in Lebanon over the weekend, targeting financial institutions it says help fund Hezbollah’s military operations.
The move to further degrade the Iran-backed militant group came ahead of a visit to Lebanon by an envoy of US President Joe Biden as the White House looks for ways to reach a diplomatic resolution and contain Israel’s spiraling multi-front conflict.
Israel targeted branches of Al Qard Al Hassan Association — a bank-like institution — in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley in the east and Tyre and Nabatieh in the south. The Israeli military launched at least 11 strikes on Sunday evening in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence, according to Lebanese media.
Founded in 1983, Al Qard Al Hassan is officially a charity yet functions as a quasi bank, giving out loans to supporters of Hezbollah, a Shiite group that’s also a political party.
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Israel’s security cabinet convened Sunday to discuss its retaliation against Iran for a missile attack almost three weeks ago, though the government made no announcement of what action it might take. The meeting ended with a statement that spoke only of a prospective deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
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An Israeli official told Bloomberg that, after more than a year of war, Israel is open to a package deal that would calm the front in southern Lebanon, release the hostages in Gaza and allow more aide into the Palestinian territory. That appeared to point to a possible trade-off with Iran, which has clout over Hezbollah and Hamas.
“Among the goals of this war, at the highest levels, is the desire to leverage it for maximum success in returning the hostages,” Science Minister Gila Gamliel, a member of the security cabinet, told Israel’s Army Radio.
Israel remains determined to “land a heavy blow” on Iran, she added.
Amos Hochstein, Biden’s main diplomat for the Israel-Lebanon file, arrived in Beirut on Monday. Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri — a key interlocutor between the West and Hezbollah, designated a terrorist organization by the US and many other countries — told Al-Jadeed TV it would be the “last chance” for a cease-fire deal before the American presidential election on Nov. 5.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meanwhile, is also expected to visit the Middle East this week.
The conflict began in Gaza in October last year when Hamas attacked Israel, and has since spread to Lebanon. It’s also led to direct missile attacks between Israel and Iran for the first time.
Israeli forces have killed perhaps half of Hamas’ roughly 35,000 fighters, including its most senior leaders in Gaza. But Israel is still fighting hold-outs and new recruits in the northern part of the Palestinian enclave.
More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the yearlong war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. Hamas operatives killed 1,200 people and abducted 250 when they raided southern Israel.
Hamas is also designated a terrorist organization by the US and many other nations.
Hezbollah has been carrying out attacks on Israel in solidarity with Hamas. The Israelis want to drive the group away from the border area in the south of Lebanon and retain the right to take military action to keep them out under truce deal, according to an Israeli official briefed on military planning.
--With assistance from Ethan Bronner.
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