Lebanon Intercepts $2.5M Cash Smuggling Operation Headed to Hezbollah – Whoops!

A man was apprehended at Beirut’s airport on Friday, allegedly attempting to smuggle a whopping $2.5 million in cash to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. According to sources cited by Reuters, the individual had arrived from Turkey. This bust is being called "unprecedented" by some experts. "The detainee and the seized funds will be handed over to the investigation division at the General Directorate of General Security," Lebanon's finance ministry said in a statement. Israeli ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon told Fox News Digital, "We are seeing indications that the terrorist Hezbollah group funded by the Islamic Republic is still committed to rearming and rebuilding its decimated infrastructure. This is yet another attempt of Tehran to destabilize the Middle East. Israel will not hesitate to defend itself from any threat it perceives from the north." David Daoud, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, echoed this sentiment, stating, "The $2.5 million dollar seizure is unprecedented." Daoud also noted the connection to Turkey, saying, "Now, this does track though the fact this money is coming in from Turkey, this does track with Israeli claims that Turkey is being used as a conduit by the Iranians to get more funds to Hezbollah." He raised concerns about the potential scale of such operations: "Plausibly, this is one thing that got caught – how many cash transfers are getting through the dragnet?" Sources told Reuters that the funds were intended for Hezbollah, which has been weakened by recent Israeli military actions. There was no immediate response from Hezbollah on Friday. Since Israel’s war against Hamas began, the Israel Defense Forces have engaged in cross-border skirmishes with Hezbollah, including ground operations on Lebanese soil, until a ceasefire deal was reached late last year. In September, former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Lebanon by an Israeli airstrike.