WASHINGTON — War victims have filed a lawsuit against five Lebanese banks that operate in the United States.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in New York alleged that the Lebanese banks were linked to the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah. The 50 plaintiffs, in a suit filed on July 3, said the five banks financed Hizbullah military activities against Israel, including the 2006 war.

Hizbullah was said to receive at least $100 million a year from Iran, and at least another $50 from Shi'ite communities and fronts around the world, Middle East Newsline reported.

The five Lebanese banks, which operate in the United States, were accused of offering services to Hizbullah despite its designation by the United States as a terrorist organization. The plaintiffs said they or their relatives were victims of the 34-day war, during which Hizbullah fired 4,500 rockets into Israel.

The Lebanese banks were identified as Fransabank, Lebanon Commerce Bank, Bank of Beirut, Banque Libano-Francaise and Middle East Africa Bank. Each of the banks was said to have maintained correspondent U.S. dollar accounts used by Hizbullah to receive money.

The suit, filed under the Alien Tort Claim Act, which enables federal courts to hear cases by non-Americans regarding violations of international law, included a Hizbullah donation form. The form was said to enable donations to purchase weapons for Hizbullah.

Oren Gutterman, one of the attorneys for the Israelis, said he hopes the Lebanese banks would be ordered to pay huge compensation and damages. Gutterman said the suit was part of an effort to deter banks and other institutions from working with groups deemed terrorist.

"Our aim is to deter commercial banks from providing assistance to terrorists," Gutterman said. "Banks must understand that such activity contains a steep price."

On Monday, Canadian victims of Hizbullah attacks filed suit in the Quebec Superior Court against the Lebanese-Canadian Bank in Montreal. The plaintiffs, identified as Sara Yefet, Shoshana Sapir and Rochelle and Oz Shalmani, accused LCB of unlawfully providing financial services to Hizbullah since 2004.

"LCB knew that both charities are part of Hizbullah's financial arm and that by providing them banking services they were really assisting the Iranian-backed terrorists in Lebanon and their rocket attacks against civilians," Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said. "This lawsuit is only the beginning of the uncovering of Hizbullah's extensive financial network in Canada."

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