BEIRUT: The US Treasury on Tuesday slapped terrorism sanctions on a family network of seven individuals and businesses in Lebanon and South America accused of financing the militant group Hezbollah, including a Lebanese man who officials say was involved in two deadly attacks in Argentina in the 1990s.
Amer Mohamed Akil Rada was described as “one of the operational members” who carried out the attack on the Argentine-Israelite Mutual Association in Buenos Aires in 1994, which killed 85 people and wounded hundreds. A 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina killed 29 people.
“Today’s action underscores the US government’s commitment to pursuing Hezbollah operatives and financiers no matter their location,” said Brian Nelson, the Treasury’s under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a statement.
The Iran-backed group is designated a “foreign terrorist organization,” and Washington also claims that the group has been involved in drug trafficking in Latin America to generate revenue.
Rada, according to the Treasury, spent over a decade in South America before relocating to Lebanon. During his time there, he allegedly ran a charcoal business that frequently exported from Colombia to Lebanon and used “80 percent of the proceeds of his commercial enterprise to benefit Hezbollah”.
Rada’s brother, Samer, was also sanctioned and accused of being involved in various drug trafficking and money laundering operations across Latin America. According to the Treasury, he was previously based in Belize but fled due to a drug-related case and was involved in smuggling 500 kilograms (1,102 pounds) of cocaine worth $15 million hidden in fruit shipments seized in El Salvador.
He also heads Venezuelan-based company BCI Technologies CA, which some reports say is a prominent cryptocurrency consultancy firm in the country.
The US also sanctioned Rada’s son, identified as Mehdi Akil Helbawi, and his Colombia-based venture Zanga S.A.S., the coal exporting company that officials say his father used to fund Hezbollah.
The Treasury also slapped sanctions on Lebanon-based company Black Diamond SARL and owner Ali Ismail Ajrouch. The company reportedly transferred some $40,000 to the Colombia-based coal company.
US sanctions Lebanon-South America network accused of financing Hezbollah
https://arab.news/mq8s8
US sanctions Lebanon-South America network accused of financing Hezbollah
- Amer Mohamed Akil Rada was described as “one of the operational members”
- Washington also claims that the group has been involved in drug trafficking
Israeli strike kills 2 teenagers in Gaza
- Palestinian death toll since the start of the war in October 2023 rises to 71,654
GAZA: The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said on Saturday that Israeli fire had killed three people, including two children, in two separate incidents in the northern Gaza Strip.
Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces killed the two teenagers in a drone strike, while the military claimed it eliminated two “terrorists” who planted an explosive device near troops.
The civil defense agency, which operates as a rescue service, said the drone killed the two near Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza.
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Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital said on Saturday it received the two bodies, adding they were two boys aged 13 and 15.
The territory’s Al-Shifa Hospital said it received the two bodies, adding they were two boys aged 13 and 15.
The military said the pair had posed an “immediate threat” to its soldiers.
“Earlier today ... troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip identified several terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line, planted an explosive device in the area, and approached the troops, posing an immediate threat to them,” the military said in a statement.
Under a US-brokered ceasefire that came into effect on Oct. 10, Israeli forces have withdrawn to positions behind a so-called “Yellow Line” in Gaza, though they remain in control of more than half of the territory.
“Following the identification, the (Israeli air force) struck and eliminated the terrorists in order to remove the threat,” the military said.
A military press officer claimed that its troops had “killed two terrorists and not children,” without specifying the ages of those killed.
The civil defense said another fatality was also reported in a separate incident when an Israeli quadcopter struck a group of civilians in Jabalia, also in northern Gaza.
It did not provide details on the person killed in that incident. The press officer said the military had only one incident report.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were in Israel on Saturday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, mainly to discuss Gaza, two people briefed on the matter said.
Gaza has been reduced to rubble in the war that was triggered by an attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Since the beginning of the war, the death toll in Gaza now stands at 71,654 people, with 481 deaths since the October ceasefire, according to Health Ministry data.
The ceasefire has largely halted fighting between Israel and Hamas, but both sides have accused each other of violating its terms.
