Screenshot from one of the two commercials broadcast by Hezbollah.
While not a day goes by without Hezbollah and Israel exchanging fire on the border between southern Lebanon and the north of Israel, the party recently broadcast two "advertisements" appealing for donations to finance the purchase of weapons to continue the fight.
The first lasts around twenty seconds and ends with the slogan "finance the purchase of a missile." It shows several images of people dropping Lebanese pounds into donation collection boxes, followed by others showing missiles being fired and hitting their target. The spot also gives two telephone numbers – one landline and one mobile – of the "Islamic Resistance Support Association " to be contacted.
انتقلنا لمرحلة go fund me ??? pic.twitter.com/eNSYbWHsDp
— Malak (@Malakfakih3) May 27, 2024
The second clip features a man walking along a road with his son, before raising his finger to the sky in the direction of a drone in mid-air. The clip ends with the slogan "finance the purchase of a missile," accompanied by the same contact details for the association.
Hezbollah's press office has not yet responded to L'Orient-Le Jour's requests for comment. Called on one of the numbers displayed on the advertisements, an official confirmed that this was a fund-raising campaign to finance the acquisition of equipment for the party, and that anyone could donate any amount they wished. According to him, the appeal for donations was launched on Monday and would be a way of enabling civilians to "participate in the jihad through financial donations."
Drones and rockets are among the main weapons used by Hezbollah in its clashes with Israel, either in barrage fire or in more targeted operations against Israeli positions generally located within 5 or 6 km of the border. Occasionally, however, the party hits positions further afield, as was the case on Monday with a claimed strike on the Israeli town of Meron, more than 10 km from the border.
In May, Hezbollah carried out its first-ever air strike on Israel, using a drone to hit a group of soldiers in Metulla.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.