A Lebanese security source confirmed that "Mohammed Sarour, who was found killed on Tuesday after being shot no less than 5 times inside a house in the town of Beit Mery, is subject to sanctions from Washington, which accuses him of facilitating the transfer of funds from Iran to the military wing of Hamas near Beirut." The source pointed out that "Sarour was carrying a financial amount that was not stolen by the perpetrators of the crime." The National News Agency announced last evening the discovery of the body of "the citizen (M. I. S.)" aged 57 near Beit Mery. The security source confirmed that "this man is the same Sarour targeted by U.S. sanctions. He worked in financial institutions affiliated with Hezbollah."
In August 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against four individuals, including Sarour, for facilitating the transfer of "tens of millions of dollars from the Quds Force," responsible for external operations of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, "to Hamas through Hezbollah in Lebanon to carry out terrorist operations originating from the Gaza Strip." At that time, the U.S. Treasury indicated that Sarour was "responsible for transferring tens of millions of dollars annually from the Quds Force to the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades," the military wing of Hamas. It noted that Sarour "was, by 2014, responsible for all financial transfers" between the two parties and that he had "a long history of working at the 'Bayt Al-Mal' Bank."
In 2006, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated "Bayt Al-Mal" as an institution "owned or controlled by or acting for or on behalf of Hezbollah." At the beginning of March 2024, Jesse Becker, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for Asia and the Middle East in the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, visited Beirut where he urged Lebanese political and financial officials to prevent the transfer of funds to Hamas from Lebanon, according to media reports.
