Lebanese hospital denies Israeli claims of hiding Hezbollah funds in bunker

By Stephanie Radi

BEIRUT (AA) – A Lebanese hospital in Beirut has denied Israeli claims of hiding funds for Hezbollah amid a massive Israeli air campaign on Lebanon.

The Israeli army claimed that Hezbollah was keeping hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker under the Al-Sahel Hospital in southern Beirut.

Israel did not provide evidence for its claim that cash was being kept under the hospital.

The hospital’s director, Mazen Alameh, called the Israeli claims “shocking.”

"We are a well-known private hospital in Lebanon. We have no party or religious affiliation,” he told reporters.

He called for “anyone” to visit the hospital to verify the accuracy of the Israeli claims.

“This hospital was built 42 years ago. It’s impossible to have a bunker or a hideout under it,” he stressed.

Israel has mounted a huge air campaign in Lebanon since Sept. 23 against what it says are Hezbollah targets in an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and the Lebanese group since the start of Israel’s brutal offensive on Gaza.

Nearly 2,500 people have been killed and more than 11,500 others injured in Israeli attacks since last year, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 this year by launching a ground assault into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar