JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has seized millions of dollars worth of digital funds intended for use by the powerful Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and the foreign Quds Force arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said he approved an operation that was aimed at identifying and confiscating funds laundered by organizations supported by arch-enemy Iran.
His ministry said that since the start of this year, “Hezbollah, Quds Force and Syrian operatives have used digital currencies to receive funds from third parties via illegal transactions”. It said it had thwarted the transfer of millions of dollars to these operatives.
“I issued an order that enabled the confiscation of said funds, as well as their transfer to the State of Israel,” Gallant said. “In doing so, we have effectively cut off the flow of terror funds via this channel.”
Hezbollah’s media office in Lebanon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Emily Rose in Jerusalem and Laila Bassam in Beirut, editing by Mark Heinrich)
