Lebanon seizes $2.5M destined for Hezbollah after stopping man at airport in 'unprecedented’ bust
A man allegedly carrying $2.5 million in cash destined for the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah reportedly was detained Friday at Beirut’s airport in a bust that an expert told Fox News Digital is "unprecedented."
"The detainee and the seized funds will be handed over to the investigation division at the General Directorate of General Security," Lebanon's finance ministry said in a statement obtained by Reuters, which cited sources saying that the man had been traveling from Turkey.
"We are seeing indications that the terrorist Hezbollah group funded by the Islamic Republic is still committed to rearming and rebuilding its decimated infrastructure," Israeli ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon told Fox News Digital. "This is yet another attempt of Tehran to destabilize the Middle East. Israel will not hesitate to defend itself from any threat it perceives from the north."
"The $2.5 million dollar seizure is unprecedented," added David Daoud, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
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"We haven’t seen anything like this. Now, this does track though the fact this money is coming in from Turkey, this does track with Israeli claims that Turkey is being used as a conduit by the Iranians to get more funds to Hezbollah," Daoud told Fox News Digital.
"Plausibly, this is one thing that got caught – how many cash transfers are getting through the dragnet?" he also said.
The money the individual was carrying was bound for Hezbollah, which has been weakened recently by Israel’s military, sources told Reuters.
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There was no immediate reaction from Hezbollah on Friday.
Since the onset of Israel’s war against Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces engaged in cross-border skirmishes with Hezbollah – including ground operations on Lebanese soil – until a ceasefire deal was struck late last year.
Former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Lebanon by an Israeli airstrike in September.