The Times of Israel is liveblogging Saturday’s events as they happen.
Accused Hezbollah financier pleads guilty in US to evading sanctions
A former Lebanese diplomat accused of being a financier for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah pleads guilty to evading US financial sanctions against him and his terror organization.
Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi, 60, who holds Lebanese, British and Belgian citizenship, pleads guilty in a federal court in New York to conspiracy to conduct unlawful transactions with an international terrorist, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.
Bazzi had “accepted responsibility for his role in conspiring to secretly move hundreds of thousands of dollars from the United States to Lebanon in violation of sanctions placed on him for assisting the terrorist group Hezbollah,” US prosecutor Breon Peace says.
Bazzi faces up to 20 years imprisonment, as well as deportation and forfeiture of the $828,528 involved in illegal transactions.
No sentencing date has been set.
The State Department in May 2018 had declared Bazzi to be a “specially designated global terrorist” and offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has said Bazzi “has provided millions of dollars to Hezbollah over the years, generated from his business activities in Belgium, Lebanon, Iraq and throughout West Africa.”
In February 2023, he was arrested in Romania and extradited to the US.
The US attorney’s statement says Bazzi had worked with an accomplice, Talal Chahine, who remains on the loose in Lebanon.
According to investigative journalism outlet ProPublica, Bazzi was appointed honorary consul in Lebanon by the government of Gambia in 2005. The volunteer diplomat role helped him access unique connections and benefits, which can be ripe for abuse.
Hezbollah confirms death of top commander Ibrahim Aqil after Israeli airstrike
The Hezbollah terror group releases a statement confirming the death of top commander Ibrahim Aqil.
Aqil was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut earlier today, alongside at least 10 other top commanders in the terror group.
According to the IDF, Aqil was the head of Hezbollah’s military operations, the acting commander of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, and the head of a plan to invade the Galilee.
Since October, Hezbollah has named 484 members killed by Israel.
Lebanese media reports body of Ibrahim Aqil identified at site of Beirut strike
Lebanese media reports that the body of senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil has been identified following the IDF strike in Beirut’s Dahiyeh suburb earlier today.