Hezbollah’s company Joud which was recently establish is reportedly linked to its financial arm Al Qard al Hassan. Joud has reportedly obtained official Lebanese license despite several of its leaders being under U.S. sanctions, according to an investigation al-Hadath TV channel .
Trump administration vows to cut off Lebanese group ‘from the global financial system’ amid daily Israeli violations
The United States has imposed sanctions on a gold firm in Lebanon that it accused of having ties to Hezbollah as Washington pushes to choke off the group’s revenue streams.
The administration of US President Donald Trump blacklisted Jood SARL on Tuesday, saying the company is helping convert Hezbollah’s “gold reserves into usable funds” to help sustain efforts to rebuild itself after a series of deadly attacks.
“Hezbollah is a threat to peace and stability in the Middle East,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“Treasury will work to cut these terrorists off from the global financial system to give Lebanon a chance to be peaceful and prosperous again.”
Hezbollah has long rejected US sanctions, which it says contribute to the economic crisis in Lebanon and primarily harm civilians.
The sanctions come at a time when gold prices have reached record highs, surpassing $5,000 per ounce.
The US Treasury said Jood SARL works under al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH), an already sanctioned Hezbollah-linked entity that provides financial services in Lebanon.
This development comes after Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem announced that the party has decided” to provide shelter for three months for everyone who lost their home, or whose home was destroyed, or who was unable to return to it, or whose home was uninhabitable, for the months of February, March and April,” noting that “we made this decision even though it is the responsibility of the state, but since it is unable to do so, we consider ourselves responsible for providing shelter in any way because we are concerned with embracing our people.” It is not clear whether Joud is involved in raising the funds for this project using Hezbollah’s gold
Al Jazeera
