Exclusive—Hezbollah Reacts to Israeli Claim Iran Smuggles Funds at Airport

Hezbollah has told Newsweek it rejected the Israeli military's recent claims that an elite Iranian unit was illicitly using civilian flights at Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport to transfer funds to the Lebanese group in the midst of a ceasefire.

The allegation was made Wednesday by the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) Arabic-language spokesperson, Colonel Avichay Adraee, who alleged that the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah "have been exploiting Beirut Airport and civilian flights to smuggle funds intended to strengthen the terrorist organization and support terror activities against the State of Israel."

"The IDF is in contact with the monitoring mechanism of the ceasefire understandings and routinely communicates relevant information in order to stop this smuggling," Adraee said. "Despite these efforts, our assessment is that some funds have been successfully transferred."

In response, a Hezbollah spokesperson told Newsweek that the airport was administered not by the group, but by the Lebanese government, and that such accusations were without merit.

"The Lebanese state is responsible for these facilities and Hezbollah has no control over any of the state's facilities," the Hezbollah spokesperson said in a statement. "The allegations are always false because they are baseless accusations. During the war, they tried to threaten that weapons and other things were being placed in a number of state facilities and infrastructure."

"The Minister of Transport and Public Works had previously toured the airport and previously the port and it was proven that these statements were false," the Hezbollah spokesperson said. "So far, it has been shown that the Israelis are lying, procrastinating and not implementing the agreements. The countries that guaranteed the agreement are supposed to play their role and not stand idly by."

Newsweek has reached out to the IDF, the Iranian Mission to the United Nations and the Lebanese Ministry of Public Works and Transport for comment.

Why It Matters

Shortly after the Palestinian Hamas movement launched a surprise attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles across Lebanon's southern border. The ensuing war raged on multiple fronts throughout the region, with fellow Iran-led Axis of Resistance factions also attacking Israel from Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

As Israeli forces advanced in Gaza, the IDF intensified operations in Lebanon last year, killing much of its top leadership, including longtime Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, and establishing an effective buffer zone in the south. The two sides, with France and the United States serving as mediators, reached a 60-day ceasefire agreement on November 27 that has since been extended to February 18.

The deal would see Israeli forces exit Lebanon and Hezbollah pull its fighters and equipment north of the Litani River. Both sides have accused one another of violating the terms of the agreement, however, and the IDF has conducted a number of strikes against alleged Hezbollah positions throughout the truce.

In his comments Tuesday, Adraee warned that the IDF would take action to prevent Hezbollah from regrouping.

"The IDF will not allow the terrorist organization to build up its forces and will use all available means to enforce the ceasefire understandings and ensure the security of the citizens of the State of Israel," he said.

The Lebanese Health Ministry reported on the deaths of more than 4,000 people as a result of Israeli attacks in Lebanon since October 2023, without distinguishing between civilians and combatants, both of whom are among the dead. The IDF has estimated it killed around 3,800 Hezbollah fighters throughout this period, according to Israeli media.

Dozens of Israeli soldiers and civilians are also reported to have been killed in the cross-border conflict between the IDF and Hezbollah.

What to Know

Iran has previously been accused of sending aid to Hezbollah via civilian flights at Beirut's airport. A report shared with Newsweek last October by the dissident People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as the Mojahedin-e-Khelq (MeK), alleged that Tehran had secretly sent light and medium weapons to its Lebanese ally, smuggled food and transferred its fighters for training.

The Iranian Mission to the U.N. denied the report at the time, telling Newsweek that the Islamic Republic was providing "humanitarian assistance to Lebanon via multiple channels" and had "expressed its preparedness to extend medical aid and to receive the wounded," an offer accepted by the Lebanese government.

"Lebanon is not in need of military support," the Iranian Mission said at the time. "The foremost and urgent priority must center upon the establishment of a ceasefire and the facilitation of relief efforts."

Hezbollah also rejected those claims, telling Newsweek then that the group "has enough equipment and numbers to repel the aggression," and that "we do not need any military support."

Prior to the latest Israeli accusations, the London-based, Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat cited an unnamed security source at Beirut's airport on Tuesday as saying that extra measures were being taken to boost security at the facility over concerns of potential attempts to smuggle funds to Hezbollah through flights from Iraq. Lebanon's L'Orient–Le Jour newspaper cited two unnamed sources confirming the report on Wednesday.

Rafic Hariri International Airport Director Fadi al-Hassan downplayed the claims, however, saying "inspections of civil aircraft, whether from Iraq or Iran, are routine and similar to procedures adopted for flights arriving from all over the world," according to Asharq Al-Awsat.

Hezbollah enjoys widespread influence in Lebanon has long been considered to be even more powerful than the country's official military, the Lebanese Armed Forces. The group emerged with support from Iran in the 1980s and played a leading role in battling Israeli forces in Lebanon amid the country's 15-year civil war and again fought with Israel during a month-long war in 2006.

Hezbollah also has a strong political status in Lebanon. However, the election of President Joseph Aoun, a former Lebanese Armed Forces commander, and the appointment of former International Court of Justice President Nawaf Salam as prime minister last month, neither of whom the group backed for their respective seats, has raised questions as to Hezbollah's future relationship with the government.

Morgan Ortagus, U.S. President Donald Trump's deputy special envoy to the Middle East, asserted that Hezbollah being a part of the Lebanese government moving forward would be a "red line" for Washington following a meeting with Aoun last Friday.

The U.S. and Israel have sought to court Aoun as a potential partner in the effort to diminish Hezbollah's position in Lebanon, but his office distanced itself from Ortagus' remarks, saying they "represent her own point of view and is not the concern of the presidency."

Aoun's office on Wednesday also rejected a report by the Saudi news outlet Al-Hadath claiming he had reached an agreement with Israel to further extend the deadline for the Israeli troop exit until the Eid al-Fitr Islamic holiday on March 29.

"President Aoun has repeatedly stressed Lebanon's insistence on the complete withdrawal of the Israeli enemy within the deadline set for February 18," his office said.

This is a developing article and will be updated with additional information.