Israel, US and Lebanon Step Up Pressure on Hezbollah Finances – NYT
Israel, the Trump administration, and the Lebanese government have intensified efforts to financially weaken Hezbollah, targeting the group’s funding networks as it faces some of its most severe economic pressure in years, The New York Times reports.
Hezbollah has increasingly relied on exchange houses and hawala networks operating through the UAE, Türkiye, and Iraq to move funds.
Hawala is an informal money-transfer system that relies on networks of brokers rather than traditional banks, making transactions more difficult to trace. While hawala is legal and widely used around the world, it can also be exploited by criminal and sanctioned organizations to move money while avoiding traditional financial monitoring.
The U.S. Treasury estimates that Iran transferred around $1 billion to Hezbollah last year through these channels.
The financial pressure is reportedly beginning to affect the group’s ability to cover its wartime expenses. Hezbollah has prioritized military spending over parts of its extensive welfare system, with salaries for fighters largely still being paid while some social services and medical assistance have been reduced.
