Human rights group Amnesty International said that the Israeli military’s bombing of branches of a Hezbollah-linked financial firm in Lebanon should be “investigated as a war crime”, AFP reports.

The Al-Qard al-Hassan firm, a lifeline for many Shiite Muslims and other Lebanese in the face of a years-long financial crisis, is sanctioned by Washington, which accuses Hezbollah of using it as a cover to gain access to the international financial system.

Israel accuses Al-Qard al-Hassan of financing “Hezbollah’s terrorist operations”, and the Israeli military hit branches of the organisation across Lebanon late on Sunday and early on Monday.

“The Israeli military’s targeting of branches” of Al-Qard al-Hassan “likely violates international humanitarian law and must be investigated as a war crime”, Amnesty said in a statement.

“Under the laws of war, branches of financial institutions are civilian objects unless they are being used for military purposes. Therefore, these attacks likely constitute a direct attack on civilian objects,” it added.

Read the full statement by Amnesty International here.