IN A HISTORIC MOVE, GERMANY BANS ALL HEZBOLLAH ACTIVITIES
Germany designated the Lebanese militant and political group
Hezbollah a “Shiite terror organization.” This will ban all of Hezbollah’s
activities in Germany where about 1,000 Hezbollah members and supporters are
located. The ban will also impact the terror group’s transnational ability to
raise and launder money for its operations.
“As the authority responsible for issuing the ban, the
Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building, and Community is of the opinion
that Hezbollah openly calls for the violent elimination of the State of Israel
and questions the right of the State of Israel to exist,” the German government
released in a statement.
“The organization is therefore fundamentally against the
concept of international understanding, regardless of whether it presents
itself as a political, social or military structure,” it added.
Horst Seehofer, the German Interior Minister, said the
decision was made after assessing that the Shia group was behind “a multitude
of attacks resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries worldwide.”
Back in December, the German Parliament had passed a motion
urging Chancellor Angela Merkel to act.
As a result of the government’s decision, German police
raided several properties in Berlin, Bremen, and North Rhine-Westphalia on
Thursday. They conducted operations at four mosques and cultural associations,
and at the homes of their board members and treasurers.
The Germans may have been tipped off by Israeli
intelligence. According to reports from Israel, the Israeli Mossad intelligence
agency spent months gathering information on Hezbollah’s activities in Germany.
Mossad operatives turned over information to German
authorities about warehouses in southern Germany where Hezbollah had stashed
hundreds of kilos of ammonium nitrate, which is used to make explosives.
(Ammonium nitrate was the catalyst in the Oklahoma City bombing back in 1995.)
Israeli intelligence operatives also gathered large
dossiers, which were given to German authorities, that included details of key
individuals in Hezbollah’s operations in Germany. They also included details on
money laundering networks used to transfer millions of euros into the terror
group’s bank accounts and fund its activities in Germany.
“The associations under investigation are suspected of
forming part of Hezbollah due to their financial support and propaganda for the
terrorist organization,” the Interior Ministry said. The searches of
Hezbollah’s sites were conducted to “ensure that evidence of potential
sub-organizations in Germany could not be destroyed when this ban was
announced.”
Germany’s designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist
organization is significant because it breaks from the EU norm. The EU members
differentiate between Hezbollah’s military wing and its political one. Only
Germany among the bloc members stands against the Iranian-led group based out
of Lebanon. In 2019, the U.K., which no longer forms part of the EU, had also
banned Hezbollah.
The United States and Israel, which had long campaigned for
the German decision, welcomed the move. Richard Grenell, the U.S. Ambassador to
Germany, said, “We applaud the German government’s actions today against
suspected Hezbollah supporters. The government’s decision to act reflects the
resolve of the West to confront the global threat posed by Hezbollah.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, “I
would like to express my deepest appreciation to the German government for this
step and I am sure that many governments in the Middle East, as well as the
thousands of victims of Hezbollah’s terror, join in thanking them for this
decision.”
The Iranians, however, not surprisingly, condemned the move.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi released a statement saying,
“It appears that certain countries in Europe are adopting their stances without
considering the realities in the West Asia region and by paying regard only to
the objectives of the propaganda machine of the Zionist regime and the confused
U.S. regime.”
France’s President Macron has said that he will still
continue to meet with Hezbollah’s political wing.
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