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Some notes on the location of the sites Israel identified today as Hezbollah missile sites. The three neighborhoods, from north to south are Jnah, Laylaki and Choueifat al-Amrousieh. 1/
Jnah is north of the Beirut airport, near the Iranian embassy. Laylaki is further to the southeast, adjacent to Hadath in the Baabda district. Choueifat al-Amrousieh is straight south of that, in the Aley district. All are packed with Hezbollah infrastructure. 2/ https://twitter.com/AcrossTheBay/status/1311054941193150467
It would take too long to list them all here. But let me quickly note again Fantasy World, because this one should’ve been designated a long time ago (cc. @USTreasury). https://twitter.com/AcrossTheBay/status/1311028893802008576 3/ https://twitter.com/AcrossTheBay/status/1311059925423058945
However, what all three have in common are residential and commercial projects by one of Hezbollah’s principal financial networks: the Tajeddine family and their real estate arm, Tajco. 4/ https://twitter.com/AcrossTheBay/status/1311061069184618498
Tajco was designated in 2010 ( https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg997.aspx) along with two Tajeddines, Ali and Hussein. Kassim was designated in 2009 ( https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/pages/tg149.aspx). Tajco develops residential complexes in multiple areas including Laylaki, Choueifat, Hadath, Aramoun, Khaldeh, and Jiyeh. 5/ https://twitter.com/AcrossTheBay/status/1311062623555813376
This is not to mention areas further south, where Tajco is just as active. Tajco is the developer of the massive Medyar project, first made famous in this story on Hezbollah’s money laundering machine, the Lebanese-Canadian Bank. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/world/middleeast/beirut-bank-seen-as-a-hub-of-hezbollahs-financing.html 6/ https://twitter.com/AcrossTheBay/status/1311063806307692549
Back to Jnah. Tajco is the developer of a large shopping mall, a few blocks north of the Iranian embassy, called Centro Mall. In 2014, Tajco was planning a 13 building project in Jnah and a “green” development project in Choueifat. 7/ https://twitter.com/AcrossTheBay/status/1311066369925042183
Choueifat municipality even awarded Tajco’s exec dir Hassan Tajeddine an appreciation plaque. The Tajeddines’ large land purchases and developments, especially in the coastal region south of Beirut up into the hills of the Chouf (like Medyar), caused alarm in the late 2000’s. 8/ https://twitter.com/AcrossTheBay/status/1311070283974012928
The fear was that Hezbollah, behind the Tajeddines, was acquiring strategic terrain and building development projects. The speculation, which is unverified, was that these projects serve at least a dual purpose. 9/ https://twitter.com/AcrossTheBay/status/1311071565480693760
Separate from whether or not the sites today are part of these types of development projects, these areas are nevertheless full of Hezbollah infrastructure, much of it already designated (with ample additional targets — cc. @USTreasury). 10/ https://twitter.com/AcrossTheBay/status/1311073118669221894
Lastly, Hezbollah’s military doctrine is predicated on eliminating the lines between the “resistance” and its environment. Jihad al-Binaa, Hezbollah’s construction arm, makes no distinction between “military” and “civilian” any more than Hezbollah does. 11/ https://twitter.com/AcrossTheBay/status/1311075858749284352
