One of the first targets struck by Israel in its renewed offensive against Hezbollah this month was a bank branch in Beirut. Images broadcast on Lebanese television showed charred $100 bills scattered across the street, a stark reminder of the economic underpinnings of the conflict. Over the following days, Israel carried out airstrikes on 30 additional branches of Al-Qard al-Hassan, a financial institution long accused of funneling funds to Hezbollah. While Amnesty International has called for investigations into these attacks, arguing that banks are not legitimate military targets, Israeli and American officials maintain that the institution is integral to Hezbollah’s global criminal network, which spans drug trafficking in South America and illicit diamond trading in Africa, according to Times UK.
For Israel, the stakes are clear: Hezbollah’s military operations cannot be curtailed by conventional strikes alone. Udi Levi, a former head of economic warfare at Mossad, explained that while airstrikes and targeted killings can disrupt Hezbollah temporarily, the organization will reemerge if its financial infrastructure remains intact. “One of the main problems when you are dealing with Hezbollah is that you can bomb and you can kill their operatives, but if you are not dealing with the financial infrastructure, then they will come back, even if it takes them years,” Levi said.
Hezbollah is unusually well-funded for a non-state actor. Before October 2023, the group’s annual revenues were estimated at $2.5 billion, roughly half of which came from Iran. Since then, its finances have suffered due to military pressure and declining support from Tehran. However, even as the organization contends with widespread destruction in its Lebanese heartlands, its criminal networks abroad remain operational, allowing it to raise funds and potentially conduct operations overseas. Levi warned that Europe, South America, and Africa continue to host thriving Hezbollah infrastructure capable of financial support and, if desired, terrorist activity.
The roots of Hezbollah’s global network lie in Lebanese emigration, which began in the 19th century and continued through the 20th century. Waves of migrants settled in regions like South America’s tri-border area, spanning parts of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. A substantial Shia Lebanese community took root there, some members engaging in illicit activities including money laundering and drug trafficking. Hezbollah, with support from Iran, capitalized on these communities to fund operations and expand its influence abroad.
Criminal networks are incentivized to collaborate with Hezbollah for a combination of ideological, familial, and coercive reasons. Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism expert at the Washington Institute, highlighted how familial ties in Lebanon and mafia-style pressures have encouraged participation. At the same time, some individuals are motivated by ideological alignment or anger over conflicts between Israel and Lebanon. These networks enabled Hezbollah to carry out devastating attacks in Argentina during the 1990s, including the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, which killed 22 people, and the 1994 attack on a Jewish community center, claiming 85 lives.
The threat is ongoing. In November 2023, Brazilian authorities foiled a Hezbollah plot targeting two synagogues, tipped off by Mossad intelligence. The persistence of these networks is fueled by weak governance in host countries. Venezuela, under Hugo Chávez and later Nicolás Maduro, has been cited as offering Hezbollah and Iranian operatives freedom to establish a regional platform in the Americas. Analysts note that countries with limited law enforcement expertise and porous financial regulations provide fertile ground for the group’s operations.
Levi emphasized the challenges of dismantling these networks. “To deal with economic warfare you need experts. But in most of these countries, you don’t have the expertise,” he said. He also noted the ironic reality that the same criminal actors who fund Hezbollah are often among the brightest minds in their communities—capable of running legitimate economies, but instead drawn to illicit profit. The interplay of intelligence, law enforcement, and geopolitical strategy remains critical to confronting Hezbollah’s enduring financial resilience.
As Israel continues its limited ground operation in southern Lebanon, experts argue that striking Hezbollah’s operational assets without disrupting the financial networks risks a temporary victory at best. The organization’s ability to rebound depends not only on military might but on the resilience of its global crime infrastructure. Without coordinated international action targeting both the flow of funds and the criminal networks supporting Hezbollah, analysts warn, the group’s influence and capacity for violence will endure, posing a persistent challenge to regional stability and global security.
