By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Over the past 24 hours, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed at least 16 people and injured 59.

The Israeli army launched a series of raids on Sunday evening on the southern district of Beirut, the eastern Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, over the past 24 hours, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 16 people and injured 59.

Lebanese media reported that the Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial institutions were targeted in Hermel and Baalbek.

The Israeli warplanes launched around 13 raids in the southern district of Beirut targeting buildings in the neighborhoods of Mreyjeh, Haret Hreik, Hay al-Sellom, Burj al-Brajneh and Ghobeiri.

Six children and women from one family were killed and eight Lebanese were injured in an Israeli airstrike on Baalbek. pic.twitter.com/3trOGhZ4MU

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 21, 2024

According to Al-Jazeera, one of the raids was close to the eastern runway of the still-operational Rafik Hariri International Airport.

The Israeli drones also targeted residential buildings in the cities of Baalbek and Hermel and the towns of Ali al-Nahri and Badnayel in Bekaa, in the east of Lebanon, and the city of Nabatiyeh and the towns of Ma’arka, Kafra and Yater in the south of the country, Al-Jazeera reported.

The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) said that a number of people were wounded as a result of an Israeli raid that hit an ambulance on Bir al-Salasil Road in the town of Khirbet Silm east of the city of Tyre, in the south of Lebanon.

Additionally, NNA reported on Monday that six children and women from one family were killed and eight Lebanese were injured in an Israeli airstrike on Baalbek.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan

The Israeli aggression on Al-Qard al-Hassan was preceded by a warning by the Israeli occupation army that it would strike different branches of the micro-credit organization across Lebanon ordering residents of the designated areas to leave.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari claimed in a statement on Sunday that these sites are “used to finance Hezbollah’s terrorist activities”.

Al-Qard al-Hassan Foundation labeled the targeting of Israel of its branches as “bankruptcy of the enemy and the depletion of its target bank.”

The charity organization assured the Lebanese public that it has taken “all measures since the beginning of the war to preserve people’s deposits and their life savings,” stressing that the “depositors’ money is kept safe.”

⚡️BREAKING: At 7 Israeli airstrikes on different areas in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon.

Zionists have announced plans to target businesses they claim are affiliated with or supportive of Hezbollah in Lebanon, specifically naming the Al Qard Al Hassan Institution, a certified… pic.twitter.com/TXs7N4HTh8

— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) October 20, 2024

Al-Qard al-Hassan Foundation was established in 1982 following Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and obtained a license from the Lebanese Ministry of Interior and Municipalities in 1987. It is a charity organization that grants needy Lebanese loans with no profit for a designated period.  

The Lebanese Minister of Labor Moustafa Bayram attributed the Israeli targeting of the charity organization to the “military bankruptcy of the enemy in parallel with its humiliation at the borders.”

He stressed in a post on his X account that in the end “they will all fail and we will win.”

War on Lebanon

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, on October 7, 2023, the Lebanese movement Hezbollah has engaged directly, but relatively in a limited way in the war against the Israeli occupation.

Israel escalated its aggression with the cyber-terror attacks on September 17 and 18, which claimed the lives of at least 37 people including children, and injured around 3000 others.

This went hand in hand with a series of assassinations of Hezbollah leaders, the last of which was that of the Secretary-General of the resistance party Hassan Nasrallah on September 27.

Israeli 🇮🇱 strike targets Al-Qard Al-Hassan branch in Ain Al Sekkeh, Burj Al Barajneh, Lebanon 🇱🇧

Earlier, the Israeli army announced it would attack Hezbollah's significant economic assets in Lebanon and ordered Lebanese residents to stay away from branches of Al-Qard… https://t.co/faGZf4nOKJ pic.twitter.com/ivYnv02l9E

— Saad Abedine (@SaadAbedine) October 20, 2024

These developments coincided with unprecedented bombings and airstrikes by Israel’s army on different cities across Lebanon particularly in the south, Bekaa, and the southern district of Beirut.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced on October 19 that 2,448 Lebanese were killed and 11,471 were injured since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon.

The Lebanese Government Emergency Committee announced on October 16 that the number of shelters has reached 1,059 centers, 876 of which stand at maximum capacity.

The Head of the committee, Minister of Environment Nasser Yassin revealed that around “50 thousand families have been displaced to approved shelters, noting that the total number of displaced people exceeds 1.2 million.”

According to the committee, 326,467 Syrians and 124,225 Lebanese crossed into Syrian territory from September 23 to October 14.

(PC, AJA)