Israel claims hundreds of millions in bunker under Lebanon hospital

Hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold are being stored in a bunker under a hospital in the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to Israel.

However, the director of the Sahel hospital in Dahiyeh, Fadi Alame, told Reuters that the allegation is untrue.

Israel, which said it would not strike the complex as part of its campaign against Hezbollah’s financial assets, did not furnish evidence but instead published an animated graphic depicting the alleged bunker.

It also claimed that the bunker was used to hide Hezbollah’s former secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Sept 27. 

Israel is appealing to the Lebanese government to seize the alleged cash and gold, which it claims were stolen from the people. 

Reuters quoted the Israeli military’s chief spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, as stating that Israeli intelligence had been gathering information on the bunker for years.

He also claimed that Nasrallah had built the bunker, which was designed for lengthy stays.

“There are hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold inside the bunker right now. I’m calling on the Lebanese government, Lebanese authorities, and international organisations to not allow Hezbollah to use the money for terror and to attack Israel.

“The Israeli Air Force is monitoring the compound, as you can see. However, we will not strike the hospital itself,” he added.

However, Fadi, who is also a Lebanese lawmaker with the Shi'ite Amal Movement party, claimed that Israel was making false and slanderous accusations.

He also invited the Lebanese Army to visit, claiming that there are only operating rooms, patients and a morgue.

In a related development, Reuters reported that Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi told troops in Lebanon that overnight between Sunday and Monday, aircraft had struck some 30 sites belonging to Al-Qard al-Hassan, which Israel says is Hezbollah’s financial arm.

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