While a fragile ceasefire between Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel continues to strain, Israel has accused Iran of smuggling cash to its largest military ally via Beirut Airport.
The Israeli military spokesman in Arabic, Avichay Adraee, wrote on X: “The Iranian Quds Force and the terrorist group Hezbollah have been exploiting Beirut International Airport international flights over the past few weeks in an attempt to smuggle funds allocated to arm Hezbollah with the aim of carrying out attacks against the State of Israel.”
The internationally brokered ceasefire, which began in November, has seen both sides accuse the other of dozens of breaches. Israel has accused Hezbollah of rearming after weeks of bombardment from Israel, targeting key infrastructure and the group’s top leadership.
Lebanon accuses Israel of territorial breaches and ongoing military action which has seen dozens of Lebanese killed amid the ceasefire.
“The IDF remains in contact with the ceasefire monitoring mechanism and continuously transmits specific information to thwart these transfers. Despite the efforts made, we estimate that some of these money smuggling attempts have succeeded,” Andraee added.
The initial six-week ceasefire has been extended to February 18 and the committee includes representatives from Israel, Lebanon, the US, France, and the UN.
On Monday, Lebanese media reported that incoming flights from Iraq to Beirut are being subject to inspection to prevent the transfer of money to Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Saudi Arabian outlet Al Hadath quoted Lebanese media as saying that the inspections are underway without saying by who, while the Lebanese army has been taking a greater role in domestic affairs since the ceasefire began.
Lebanese newspaper Lebanon Debate reported on Monday that "similar to what happened previously in the cases of inspection of planes coming from Iran, the same thing happens with flights coming from Iraq, as the flights are subject to a thorough security inspection in order to verify the possibility of them transporting money or assets for the benefit of Hezbollah."
Just two weeks ago, Israel accused Iran of sending tens of millions of dollars to Hezbollah through clandestine cash deliveries, lodging formal complaints with the US-led committee overseeing the ceasefire, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Iranian envoys have been flying into Beirut from Tehran with suitcases stuffed with US dollars to finance Hezbollah’s operations. Additionally, Israel has reported that Turkish nationals have been used as couriers to transport funds from Istanbul to Beirut, the report said.
Last year, The Telegraph reported that Iranian weapons were being stored at Beirut’s main airport, claims which were denied by the Lebanese air transport association.
Whistleblowers at the airport told The Telegraph they were concerned about increasing weapons supplies on direct flights from Iran.
They claimed that they had observed “unusually big boxes” arriving and the increased presence of high level Hezbollah commanders.
