Israeli military officials have accused Hezbollah of hiding hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker located under the Al-Sahel Hospital in Beirut. However, the hospital has vehemently denied these allegations. In response, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated on the 21st that while the military is actively targeting Hezbollah’s financial assets, they will not consider the hospital a target for any military action.

Fadi Alame, the director of Al-Sahel Hospital, dismissed Israel’s claims and even extended an invitation to the Lebanese army to inspect the facility, asserting that it only contains operating rooms, patients, and a morgue. Alame also mentioned that the hospital is currently in the process of evacuating its patients.

Hagari indicated that the military has been monitoring the hospital grounds but reiterated that it will not attack the medical facility. He presented an animated map suggesting that the bunker beneath the hospital was ordered to be constructed by the recently killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, estimating that it could hold at least $500 million in cash and gold.

“Tonight, I am going to declassify intelligence on a site that we did not strike—where Hezbollah has millions of dollars in gold and cash—in Hassan Nasrallah’s bunker. Where is the bunker located? Directly under Al-Sahel Hospital in the heart of Beirut,” Hagari stated. Despite these claims, he did not provide any evidence of large amounts of cash being stored within the hospital or clarify whether any funds would have been destroyed in potential attacks. Attempts to reach Hezbollah for comment have been unsuccessful.

Additionally, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi noted that between the 20th and 21st, they had carried out strikes on nearly 30 branches of Hezbollah’s financial institution, Al-Qard al-Hassan, across Lebanon.