Al-Qard Al-Hassan, or AQAH, has been under US sanctions since 2007. The U.S. Treasury Department described the bank as being used by Hezbollah “as a cover for controlling the terrorist group's financial activities” and “to gain access to the international financial system.”

Since then, finance officials have repeatedly accused Hezbollah of using the bank to “abuse the Lebanese financial sector and deplete Lebanon's financial resources at an already dire time” in a country struggling with protracted economic and political crises has.

According to local media, Al-Qard Al-Hassan has more than 30 branches across Lebanon, many of which are located in the predominantly Shiite southern suburbs of Beirut and at least some appear to be connected to residential buildings.

Israel's attacks on the bank represent an expansion of its war against Hezbollah, going beyond what the IDF describes as targeted attacks on the group's military sites.

The IDF said Monday that Israeli soldiers continued to launch ground attacks in southern Lebanon and dismantled “large quantities of Hezbollah's weapons” while also killing Hezbollah members, including “tactical-level commanders.”

According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, at least 2,464 people, including 127 children, have been killed in Lebanon since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah began to escalate last year following the Hamas terror attack on October 7, while an estimated 1.2 million people have been displaced from their houses.

In an interview with Al Arabiya on Monday, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he believes there is “no solution except through diplomacy” to end fighting in the region, but he has not had direct contact with Hezbollah since then of the last month.

Dozens of people have been killed in Israeli attacks on the northern Gaza Strip, local officials said

Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued their deadly offensive in the northern Gaza Strip, where dozens of people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the areas of Beit Lahia and the Jabalia refugee camp over the weekend, according to local health authorities.

The IDF said on Monday that troops had killed militants over the past day and continued to dismantle militant infrastructure and tunnel shafts in the area of ​​the Jabalia refugee camp. The military said troops were also deployed in southern and central Gaza.