Germany bans and raids Islamist group

GBNEWS24 DESK//

Germany has banned all activity by the Islamist Hezbollah movement and police have carried out raids on mosques and centres linked to the group.

Until now the political wing of the Shia Lebanese group, backed by Iran, was able to operate on German soil while its military arm was banned.

Several European countries have already banned Hezbollah, which has some 1,000 activists in Germany.

Israel praised the German move and called on the EU to follow suit.

Hezbollah – which means Party of God – wields considerable power in Lebanon and is seen as a key supporter of its current government. It has been blamed for numerous attacks against Israel, the US and Jewish figures and institutions.

The EU has Hezbollah’s military wing on its list of terror organisations but not its political wing. Earlier this year the US ambassador to Berlin, Richard Grenell, accused the EU of maintaining an “artificial distinction” between the two parts.

The UK dropped the distinction in 2019, saying it could no longer distinguish between the two. The Netherlands, Japan, the US and Canada are among other countries that ban both wings.

However, French President Emmanuel Macron made clear last year that he would continue to have contact with Hezbollah’s political wing.

It was up to the Lebanese people to decide which political force should represent them, not external powers such as France, he argued