BEIRUT — Forward of Could 2026 parliamentary elections, Washington is relying on the affect of a collection of punitive measures towards the Shiite duo, Hezbollah and the Amal Motion.
Washington believes that the lack of the Shiite duo’s sources of cash and the collapse of its banking establishments will push its supporters to boycott their candidates or elect their opponents, thus stripping them of their political share inside the state establishments.
The U.S. scheme to dry up the Resistance’s funding and strangle it financially is a part of the continuing aggression towards Lebanon. This additionally facilitates the undermining of Hezbollah’s efforts to rebuild its navy arsenal and construction, in addition to obstructing the reconstruction of what was brutally destroyed by the US-backed Israeli aggression.
The implementation of those measures is facilitated by the de facto HTS-led regime in Syria.
In response to Israeli orders, the de facto HTS-led regime not too long ago launched systematic assaults on Lebanon’s Qusayr countryside (south of Homs) to impose a floor siege on Hezbollah, whereas Israeli drones monitor the remainder of the border crossings to impede any potential switch of weapons or funds.
The Lebanese authorities’s determination, following Israeli threats to bomb Beirut airport if any Iranian plane landed, is likely one of the most important steps within the air blockade.
This coincided with tightened inspection and monitoring procedures, in addition to the dismissal and alternative of dozens of workers based mostly on sectarian backgrounds, by excluding Shiites solely.
These measures are primarily geared toward prohibiting the switch of any money shipments to Hezbollah.
The identical measures have been applied at Beirut Port, which has undergone a collection of modifications from inspection mechanisms and screening rooms; plenty of Shiite workers have been additionally fired after quite a few accusations have been raised by anti-Hezbollah media and political figures.
In parallel, the U.S. spy den in Beirut (the embassy) is intently monitoring monetary transfers and business transactions to and from Lebanon to make sure that Hezbollah just isn’t benefiting from them.
The appointment of Karim Stated as Banque centrale du Liban’s new governor has strengthened Washington’s management over the banking sector, together with stricter controls on account opening, management of overseas transfers, the voluntary freezing of sure accounts, and the scrutiny of any business transactions with Hezbollah or switch of any funds in its account.
This is applicable to alternate firms, that are topic to heavy fines from Banque centrale du Liban in the event that they take care of people or entities that Washington considers near Hezbollah, or merely on the idea of suspicion in a bid to strain Hezbollah’s well-liked base to stand up towards it.
The identical applies to controlling the acquisition of cryptocurrencies, as these transactions are tough to watch as a result of nature of the blockchain system.
What’s extra necessary for Washington is to finish what its Israeli arm did throughout the September-November U.S.-led Israeli warfare by bombing a number of facilities of Hezbollah’s banking establishment, Al-Qard al-Hassan, as it’s a supply of funding for Hezbollah’s well-liked base and its service establishments.
Clearly, the U.S. spy den in Beirut (the embassy) is urgent for the closure of this establishment.
It’s price noting that throughout the monetary disaster that erupted in 2019, Al-Qard al-Hassan didn’t plunder depositors’ cash, as did the banks owned by the political oligarchy protected by Washington, as it’s a non-profit cooperative that gives tender loans to a large section of the Lebanese inhabitants.
Due to this fact, throughout the latest aggression, the anti-Resistance media launched a marketing campaign to demonize Al-Qard Al-Hassan, threatening those that take care of it with extreme hostile penalties.
