Israel’s Strategy in Targeting Hezbollah-Linked Civilian Infrastructure

Last month, Israel announced its intention to target a Lebanese microloan charity associated with Hezbollah, prompting an urgent nationwide search for the organization’s branch locations. Residents throughout Lebanon sought to ascertain if they should evacuate their residences situated near these branches prior to the commencement of Israeli airstrikes. The Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association (AQAH), which provides interest-free microloans, had seen its influence increase significantly over the last ten years, a period marked by US sanctions and the breakdown of Lebanon’s banking system. Hassan resides with his family in Beirut, situated 200m (655ft) from an AQAH branch. He stated, “We heard about it from this guy Avichay,” identifying Avichay Adraee as an Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli army who disseminates evacuation directives via social media. Hassan added, “Then the bombing started in [the southern Beirut suburb of] Dahieh. We could hear it: ‘Boom, boom, boom.’ The kids jump at every ‘boom’.” Lacking alternative refuge, Hassan transported his family to the coast, where they endured a restless night, confined within their vehicle. That night, the Israeli air force launched attacks on approximately 30 AQAH branches; however, the branch adjacent to Hassan’s residence remained untouched, allowing him to return the following morning. As part of its operations in Lebanon, Israel has been targeting several civilian organizations connected to Hezbollah. In addition to AQAH, strikes have been carried out against the Islamic Health Society (IHS), which is financed by Hezbollah and manages emergency services, hospitals, and medical centers throughout the country. Its search-and-rescue teams have also been hit, resulting in the deaths of dozens of rescue personnel. Israel asserts that Hezbollah “is using the IHS as a cover for terrorist activities” and that those who died were performing military functions; however, the IHS refutes this assertion. Furthermore, Israel has struck structures accommodating individuals displaced by its bombing campaigns and evacuation directives. These assaults have generated extensive apprehension within Lebanon that Israel is deliberately targeting the civilian populace that backs Hezbollah – a group commonly known locally as the ‘bi’a’ of Hezbollah, a term literally meaning “environment” and understood to denote the organization’s social foundation. This community comprises hundreds of thousands of Lebanese citizens who endorse the party, cast votes for it, are employed by its affiliated civilian organizations, or are kin to Hezbollah combatants and members. The bond between Hezbollah and this social base – predominantly located in Shia-majority regions in the south, the eastern Bekaa valley, and Beirut’s southern suburbs – has historically been regarded as a significant asset for the group. However, this connection has simultaneously positioned it as a target for Hezbollah’s adversaries. Israel alleges that AQAH funds Hezbollah’s military operations; this assertion is rejected by the group, which maintains that its sole function is to provide modest, interest-free loans to regular Lebanese citizens, consistent with Islamic law’s proscription against interest charges. Subsequent to the attacks on AQAH branches last month, Israel’s defense minister at the time stated on X that Israel was “destroying the terrorist organisation’s ability to both launch and buy missiles”. According to international humanitarian law experts, AQAH does not constitute a legitimate military target, irrespective of Israel’s assertions regarding its involvement in financing Hezbollah. Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism, stated, “International humanitarian law does not permit attacks on the economic or financial infrastructure of an adversary, even if they indirectly sustain its military activities.” Mr. Saul further commented that the bombing “obliterates the distinction between civilian objects and military objectives” and “opens the door to ‘total war’ against civilian populations”. This raises the question of what Israel aims to accomplish by striking civilian organizations associated with Hezbollah. Amal Saad, a politics and international relations lecturer at Cardiff University and a prominent Hezbollah expert, posits that these attacks seek to dismantle what is also termed Hezbollah’s “community of resistance.” Ms. Saad remarked, “Hezbollah is probably the second biggest employer after the state.” She added, “Its civilian institutions affect hundreds of thousands of Lebanese, mainly Shia. It’s a way of strangulating the community further.” This would not mark the initial instance of Hezbollah’s social foundation being targeted. In the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel razed neighborhoods in Dahieh, subsequently unveiling a military strategy two years later, derived from that encounter, which became known as the Dahieh Doctrine. Then-Maj Gen Gadi Eizenkot first articulated this doctrine in 2008, during his tenure as head of the Israeli military’s Northern Command. This strategy advocated for the application of “disproportionate force” against civilian zones from which Israel believed attacks originated, aiming to compel the Lebanese populace to oppose Hezbollah and thereby diminish its support. At that time, he stated, “From our perspective, these are military bases…” He further asserted, “Harming the population is the only means of restraining [Hassan] Nasrallah,” referencing Hezbollah’s leader at the time. Nasrallah was killed in an airstrike in Dahieh in September 2024. Currently, Israel is targeting this population in regions distant from active combat, such as Wardaniyeh, located north-east of Sidon, alongside its strikes on Hezbollah’s network of civilian organizations. Responding to the BBC, the IDF stated that it was “operating solely against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, not against the Lebanese population or medical facilities, and as such takes many measures to mitigate harm to civilians”. It further added, “The IDF operations have been planned based on extensive intelligence gathering and in strict accordance with international law.” AQAH represents merely one of several Hezbollah-affiliated organizations that extend vital support to hundreds of thousands of Lebanese, particularly those constituting the movement’s core base. Its history is deeply connected with Lebanon’s financial and economic downturn. Established in the early 1980s, it provided loans to families and newlyweds, assisting them with various personal requirements. In more recent times, the association had also started to offer financing for initiatives like agricultural projects and solar panel installations. In 2007, the US imposed sanctions on AQAH, asserting that Hezbollah was utilizing it “as a cover to manage its financial activities”. The organization gained renewed attention in August 2019, when the US Treasury sanctioned Jammal Trust Bank, alleging, among other accusations, that it “knowingly facilitates the banking activities of US-designated entities openly affiliated with Hezbollah,” including AQAH. The bank was compelled to cease operations in under three weeks. However, the convergence of US sanctions and the collapse of Lebanon’s banking industry in October 2019 led to an unprecedented expansion of the association. Following sanctions on individuals and entities that the US claimed had connections to Hezbollah, Lebanese banks shut down accounts of those they suspected could create issues with the US Treasury. A significant number of these individuals then transferred their funds to AQAH. Subsequently, an even greater number of individuals deposited funds with AQAH due to a loss of confidence in the banking system, which occurred after Lebanese banks froze people’s savings in the wake of the 2019 financial and economic crisis. Ultimately, AQAH served as a crucial support for numerous Lebanese citizens who were excluded from the financial system because of US sanctions, and subsequently for additional individuals who had no alternative place to deposit their savings after the economic downturn. A substantial portion of these individuals are now among the approximately one million displaced persons dispersed throughout Lebanon – primarily originating from the south, the Bekaa, and Beirut’s southern suburbs. Many are crowded into government-operated shelters and vacant structures, observing powerlessly as large parts of their towns and cities have been devastated by the Israeli military. Individuals whose homes remain intact live in anxious expectation of subsequent bombing campaigns, while those with funds deposited at AQAH now fear their savings have vanished during their period of most acute necessity. The displaced population has also been subjected to airstrikes in locations far from combat zones – for instance, in the Christian-majority northern village of Aitou, where 23 individuals died in an air strike last month – and their host communities nationwide are growing increasingly apprehensive, as the timing and location of Israel’s next strike remain unknown. Concurrently, in the south, Hezbollah and the Israeli army have