An Israeli group has filed a lawsuit in Montreal on behalf of four Canadian citizens against a financial institution it alleges is was doing business with two Hezbollah-linked organizations.
The institution named in the lawsuit, filed in Quebec Superior Court, is the Lebanese Canadian Bank (LCB).
"LCB knew that both charities are part of Hezbollah's financial arm and that by providing them banking services they were really assisting the Iranian-backed terrorists in Lebanon perpetuate their rocket attacks against civilians," alleges one of the attorneys, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, of the Israeli Law Center said in a news release issued Monday.
"This lawsuit is only the beginning of the uncovering of Hezbollah's extensive financial network in Canada."
Hezbollah is a militant Shiite group based in Lebanon, and one listed as a terrorist group by the Canadian government.
Tina al-Hattouni, the bank's Montreal-based representative, would only tell CTV.ca that the lawsuit's allegations are false.
According to the bank's website, the LCB is based in Lebanon and has 32 branches there, but only maintains a representative office in Montreal.
The lawsuit -- believed to be the first brought forward by Canadian victims of Hezbollah rocket attacks -- is filed on behalf of four Canadian citizens who are residents of Israel, Darshan-Leitner told CTV.ca on Monday.
They suffered psychological injuries during the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in the summer of 2006. The home of one set of plaintiffs was struck twice, she said.
Darshan-Leitner said her group alleges in the lawsuit that the bank unlawfully provided financial services to Hezbollah by allowing the two groups -- the Yousser Company for Finance and Investment and the Martyrs Foundation -- to open accounts and carry out financial transactions.
These transactions took place prior to and during the attacks on northern Israeli cities by Hezbollah-launched rockets during the 2006 conflict, she said.
In September 2006, the U.S. Treasury Dept. named the Yousser Company a "specially designated global terrorist" for its role in financing Hezbollah. It froze any Yousser assets in the U.S. and prohibited U.S. citizens from doing business with the company.
In late July 2007, the U.S. Treasury said the Martyrs Foundation was an Iranian group that funnelled support to Hezbollah as well as Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The department also froze the foundation's assets in the U.S. and prohibited U.S. citizens from conducting business with the group.
Members of the Foundation were directly involved with Hezbollah during the 2006 conflict, the U.S. alleged.
Hezbollah attacked an Israeli military patrol along the Lebanon border, taking two soldiers hostage. Israel responded with a bombing campaign and limited invasion.
Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets at communities in northern Israel over the course of the 33-day conflict. Almost 40 Israeli civilians died. More than 1,000 Lebanese, mostly civilians, were reported killed.
