Hezbollah-linked financial firm an economic lifeline for Lebanese [Video]

A destroyed building at the site of an Israeli air strike that targeted a branch of the Hezbollah-linked Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial firm in south Beirut.Photo: – / AFPSource: AFP

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Al-Qard al-Hassan, bombed by Israel over it’s Hezbollah links, is a lifeline for mainly Muslim Shiite communities battling a years-long financial crisis that has locked Lebanese out of their bank deposits.

The financial firm, officially registered as a charity, has been offering customers credit in exchange for gold deposits on an interest-free basis since the 1980s.

Its beneficiaries are mainly Shiite Muslims, but in a country where a five-year economic crisis has forced many into desperation, Christians and Sunni Muslims have also turned to its services.

The United States has sanctioned the association, accusing Hezbollah of using it as a cover to mask its financial …