Several Lebanese banks serve as important tools for financing the organisation’s activities and are a critical link in its revenue chain. There must be strict international economic sanctions on banks and financial entities that support Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has succeeded in establishing itself as a military and economic force in Lebanon, while the Lebanese army remains a weak “barefoot army”, mainly in terms of funding. While a Hezbollah fighter earns about $1,500 a month, and a soldier in the Lebanese army earns just $300.
These salaries come to a large extent from the drug trade, and cutting the ability to fund them will harm the motivation of Hezbollah’s fighters. Slashing the source of Hezbollah funding may also reduce its status in the Shia community, limit its ability to recruit fighters and slash the finances for treatment of the wounded.
