Int'l journalists dispel Israeli claims of Hezbollah funds in Lebanese hospitals

A Lebanese hospital in Beirut has denied Israeli claims that Hezbollah hides funds on its premises, 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.

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.

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

International news crews were allowed to tour the facility yesterday, with the Sky News correspondent saying: “We haven’t been controlled in terms of what we can film or where we can point our camera.” None reported finding anything but medical equipment on the hospital grounds.

Israel used similar claims before striking and destroying hospitals in Gaza, providing no evidence of its claims. When it later allowed embedded journalists into the facilities it had destroyed, the so-called “evidence” it showed them quickly brought into question its claims.

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

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