Report: Hezbollah facing serious cash crunch
Hezbollah has "temporarily" frozen money meant to compensate people for property damage caused by the war due to a serious lack of liquid funds, according to the Alma Center.
The Israeli Alma Center, which specializes in observing security developments in Lebanon and Syria regarding terrorist activity and military threats, released the following statement on the parlous state of Hezbollah finances:
"According to various reports in Lebanon, Hezbollah announced an immediate and indefinite freeze on compensation payments to war victims from the conflict with Israel, through the "Al-Qard Al-Hassan" bank, starting June 23rd. It is claimed this is a temporary freeze due to operational difficulties and cash liquidity shortages.
"Since the beginning of the ceasefire (November 27, 2024), Qard Al-Hassan has distributed approximately $500 million in compensation and rehabilitation to thousands of victims from the Shiite base in southern Lebanon, Beirut, and the Bekaa.
"It should be noted that Unit 190 commander (June 21st) was eliminated in Iran - the unit responsible among other things for the logistics of transferring funds from Iran to Lebanon (Behnam Shahriari), and the elimination in Lebanon (June 24th) of a central money exchanger in Hezbollah's money transfer infrastructure (Haitham Abdullah Bakri - manager of the "Al-Sadiq" exchange house, which is one of six central exchange houses connected to the Iranian Quds Force financing axis to Hezbollah through Iraq, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates).
"Assuming the reports about the compensation payment freeze are accurate (we have not yet found a formal announcement from the bank on this matter), we assess that the consequences of the war against Iran are immediately affecting the flow of Iranian money to Hezbollah. The elimination of the Unit 190 commander is a contributing factor. It is possible that the Iranian regime has "frozen the situation" in order to assess damages and re-prioritize resources."