Israel Targets Hezbollah’s Financial Arm

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel’s military says it is now taking aim at the Lebanon-based Hezbollah’s financial arm and plans to attack a “large number of targets” in Beirut and elsewhere. Explosions have begun in Beirut’s southern suburbs, about an hour after the announcement Sunday. A senior Israeli intelligence official says the strikes target al-Qard al-Hassan. The registered nonprofit is sanctioned by both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and provides financial services. It is also used by ordinary Lebanese. Israel says it is a Hezbollah unit and is used to pay operatives of the Iran-backed militant group.