Israel claims Hezbollah has cash and gold under Sahel Hospital
A hospital director in Lebanon has denied accusations by the Israeli army that Hezbollah is storing money and gold under the hospital.
Fadi Alameh, a member of parliament who is also the director of Sahel General Hospital, denied there are tunnels under the hospital and said that the medical center south of Beirut is now being evacuated.
Alameh who as a legislator is representing the area where Sahel General Hospital is located in a southern suburb of Beirut, called on the Lebanese Army and other institutions to visit the area and inspect whether there is indeed a tunnel under the hospital.
Alameh told Al-Jadeed TV that the Sahel General Hospital is a private medical center that has underground rooms for surgery. He said the hospital has been in the area for 42 years and is not linked to any political group.
The Israeli military claimed Hezbollah is storing hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold under the hospital.
"According to the estimates we have, there is at least half a billion dollars in dollar bills and gold stored in this bunker," Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.
"This money could and still can be used to rebuild the state of Lebanon," he added.
Israeli army Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee meanwhile urged the Lebanese government to return the "stolen" money to Lebanon's citizens and not to allow Hezbollah to use it.
Hagari meanwhile said that Iran funds Hezbollah by sending cash and gold to the Iranian embassy in Beirut, though he did not provide any evidence.
Hagari said Israeli strikes had also killed the main Hezbollah leaders responsible for transferring money between Iran and Hezbollah in Beirut in early October and a strike in Syria earlier on Monday.
Earlier Monday, Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said more than two dozen targets belonging to al-Qard al-Hassan -- a financial firm linked to Hezbollah -- were hit.
"We struck close to 30 targets across Lebanon," Halevi said in a statement, after strikes began Sunday night against the U.S.-sanctioned association that Israel accuses of financing "Hezbollah's terrorist operations."
Source: Associated Press, Naharnet
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