Lebanon seizes $2.5M destined for Hezbollah after stopping man at airport in 'unprecedented' bust
"The detainee and the seized funds will be handed over to the investigation division at the General Directorate of General Security," Lebanon's finance ministry said in a statement obtained by Reuters, which cited sources saying that the man had been traveling from Turkey.
"The $2.5 million dollar seizure is unprecedented," David Daoud, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.
"We haven't seen anything like this. Now, this does track though the fact this money is coming in from Turkey, this does track with Israeli claims that Turkey is being used as a conduit by the Iranians to get more funds to Hezbollah," Daoud continued.
"Plausibly, this is one thing that got caught – how many cash transfers are getting through the dragnet?" he also said.
The money the individual was carrying was bound for Hezbollah, which has been weakened recently by Israel's military, sources told Reuters.
"While Hezbollah's military capabilities were significantly reduced during the war, they are now attempting to regain strength and rearm with the assistance of Iran," Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon was quoted by Reuters as telling the U.N. Security Council last month.
There was no immediate reaction from Hezbollah on Friday.
Since the onset of Israel's war against Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces engaged in cross-border skirmishes with Hezbollah – including ground operations on Lebanese soil – until a ceasefire deal was struck late last year.
Former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Lebanon by an Israeli airstrike in September.
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