When Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel on March 2, Israel immediately targeted senior operatives, headquarters and terrorist infrastructure, as would be expected. But it also targeted a bank.
That bank, the Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association, presents itself as a civilian financial institution in Lebanon, but it’s really part of Hezbollah’s financial backbone, providing banking services for Hezbollah members, the Israel Defense Forces said the day of the attack.
By March 10, the IDF had hit 30 of its branches.
Haig Melkessetian, a former intelligence operative for the U.S. defense and state departments, who has investigated Lebanese banks and their terror connections, said it won’t be enough.
It was a legitimate move, said Melkessetian. Israel’s immediate goal was to prevent Hezbollah from paying its men. “If I were Israel and I wanted to stop these fighters from fighting, I would target their income sources,” he told JNS.
He takes umbrage at Amnesty International’s claim that targeting the bank was a war crime: “How is it a war crime to bomb facilities that are financing terrorism? That’s not a war crime. That’s defending yourself.”
Ultimately, blowing up the bank’s branches is only a temporary fix, he argued. Hezbollah terrorists won’t be able to collect their salaries for the time being, but if there’s a ceasefire those branches will be rebuilt, as they were after the IDF targeted dozens of its branches during the Oct. 2024 campaign, he said.
The bank has proven resilient, or at least more determined than those trying to shut it down. In July 2025, the Lebanese central bank announced it was banning direct and indirect transactions with Al-Qard Al-Hasan. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned it in 2007.
Melkessetian, who was born in Lebanon and fought in the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), expressed skepticism that Lebanon’s central bank followed through, likening its promises to those of the Lebanese army to push Hezbollah north of the Litani river. Hezbollah sympathizers are seeded throughout the system, which is “so corrupt that for 40 years nobody enforced the laws. They looked the other way to appease Hezbollah,” he said.
Karim Souaid, who took over as governor of Lebanon’s central bank in March 2025, might mean well, said Melkessetian, but he is surrounded by people installed by Nabih Berri, speaker of Lebanon’s parliament and head of the Amal Movement, which is closely aligned with Hezbollah.
Al Qard Al-Hassan was never a legitimate bank, but it’s able to connect to the international banking system to carry out various illicit activities through other banks, such as the Middle East & Africa Bank (MEAB), the 15th largest by deposits in Lebanon, which has so far evaded sanctions.
“Al Qard al-Hasan never had any legitimacy to conduct business overseas so they needed corresponding banks. And one of the banks facilitating its overseas transfers was MEAB bank,” said Melkessetian.
One of Berri’s sons, Bassel Beeri, is a partner in MEAB, he said. “The Hojeij clan, which runs MEAB and is like the mafia, they brought Bassel in and made him a silent partner. MEAB is untouchable in Lebanon because the Berris are making a profit.”
If Lebanon is ever to root out corruption, then its top leaders and their assets must be targeted, he said, adding that Berri should be at the top of the list. “He is the real ruler of Lebanon. He has a stranglehold on the country. And he works hand-in-hand with Hezbollah. If you’re an army officer—Christian, Druze, Shi’ite, it doesn’t matter—you go to him and he’s the one who pulls the string to get you promoted,” said Melkessetian.
If the United States really wants to cut Hezbollah off from its funding, it should sanction Berri rather than treat him as a legitimate figure, he added.
The Lebanese have begun to publicly voice their disapproval of Berri and there are signs that the international community may be sidelining Berri in favor of Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and President Joseph Aoun, according to Melkessetian.
“Berri legitimized Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Americans talk to him as if he’s a savior. There are people in Israel, too, who have had a relationship with him for years. It’s the accumulation of 40 years of neglect, stupidity and naivete, of believing these guys are on our side; that they’re moderate. They’re not. Al Qard Al- Hasan couldn’t function for one hour without the legitimacy afforded it by Berri,” he said.
