After Ceasefire With Iran, Israel Strikes Hezbollah Financier Haytham Abdullah Bakri In Lebanon

After the ceasefire with Iran came into effect, Israel shifted its focus to Hezbollah, targeting a key financial operative of the terror outfit in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that Haytham Abdullah Bakri, head of the Al-Sadiq Currency Exchange, was killed in an airstrike.

According to the IDF, the Al-Sadiq Currency Exchange “serves as a funds storage and transfer mechanism for Hezbollah, for funds originating from the Iranian Quds Force.” Bakri had allegedly collaborated with Hezbollah in facilitating these financial flows.

“These funds are used by Hezbollah for military purposes including purchasing weapons, manufacturing means, and providing salaries to operatives, and are diverted for terrorist purposes and to finance the continuation of Hezbollah's terrorist activities,” the IDF stated.

The strike on Bakri follows a similar operation last week during Israel’s campaign in Iran, where Behnam Shahriyari, head of the IRGC Quds Force’s Unit 190, was killed.

Shahriyari was believed to be responsible for coordinating the clandestine transfer of weapons and funds to Iranian proxy groups, particularly Hezbollah.

The IDF said Shahriyari “exclusively oversaw the mechanisms that enabled the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars annually to the Quds Force and its proxies,” using a network of currency exchanges across Turkey, Iraq, the UAE, and Lebanon.

“These two eliminations constitute a severe blow to the Iranian financing routes to Hezbollah,” the IDF added, as quoted by Times of Israel.

Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump, ending 12 days of intensifying hostilities that had raised fears of a wider regional conflict.

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