Jerusalem, 18 March, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israeli authorities confirmed on Wednesday the assassination of senior Hamas fundraiser Wassam Mustafa Hussein Ta in Lebanon as the army continued its campaign against Hamas and Hezbollah financiers.
According to the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), Ta was involved in raising hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide to fund Hamas, including financing terrorism, building military capabilities, and paying the salaries of operatives.
The IDF and Shin Bet said Ta was Killed in an airstrike in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon.
“The Shin Bet and the IDF will continue their efforts to cut off the routes of terror financing and will act against anyone involved in terrorism and in assisting in the promotion of terrorist activity against the State of Israel in any arena required,” officials said.
The attack follows a March 6 airstrike in Sidon, which killed three other fundraisers.
Israel has also systematically struck about 30 sites connected to the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association (AQHA), a financial network through which Hezbollah deposits and stores funds, manages salary payments, and even makes money transfers from Iran.
In comments to The Press Service of Israel after Israel struck 20 AQHA branches in 2024, a senior figure in the Israeli intelligence community described AQHA as “one of the largest centers of economic power for the Iranian proxy.”
She also suggested that its competition with the Lebanese banking sector contributed to the country’s economic instability, while Hezbollah benefited from a parallel, unregulated financial system.
Established in 1982, AQHA expanded significantly to 34 branches against the backdrop of Lebanon’s economic crisis. It specializes in providing microloans to Lebanon’s Shiite community, which predominantly supports Hezbollah. These loans serve various needs, from wedding expenses to agricultural development and solar energy farms.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned AQHA in 2007.
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