US House Committee to Vote on Hezbollah Sanctions Bill

US House of Representative - AFP 2017/ SAUL LOEB
US House of Representative - AFP 2017/ SAUL LOEB
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US House Committee to Vote on Hezbollah Sanctions Bill

US House of Representative - AFP 2017/ SAUL LOEB
US House of Representative - AFP 2017/ SAUL LOEB

US House of Representative Foreign Affairs Committee will vote on Thursday on legislation that tightens sanctions against Hezbollah, which is highly supported by both the Republican and the Democratic parties, according to informed sources.

Two bills were introduced by the committee's chairman Ed Royce along with Democrat Representative Eliot Engel.

The first bill restricts Hezbollah’s ability to fundraise and have access to the international financial system and deal with financial institutions, while the second bill condemns Hezbollah for using civilians as human shields during warfare.

The bills enjoy wide bipartisan support and are expected to pass unanimously. The committee passed a bill in 2015 to sanction Hezbollah without any opposition, and it is unlikely for the new bills to be protested.

Bill number HR 3329 suggests imposing mandatory sanctions with respect to fundraising and recruitment activities of Hezbollah.

Article 101 of the bill imposes sanctions on any foreign person that can be determined knowingly assists, sponsors, or, provides significant financial, material, or technological support for Hezbollah's: Bayt al-Mal, Jihad al-Bina, the Islamic Resistance Support Association, the Foreign Relations Department of Hezbollah, the External Security Organization of Hezbollah, al-Manar TV, al-Nour Radio, or the Lebanese Media Group, or any successor or affiliate.

The bill also dictates that any foreign person determined by the US President to be engaged in fundraising or recruitment activities for Hezbollah or a foreign person owned or controlled by a foreign person should be sanctioned.

Whereas HR 3342 imposes sanctions on foreign persons that are responsible for gross violations of the use of human civilians as human shields by Hezbollah.

The bill dictates: "Identification of foreign persons that are responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights by reason of the use by Hezbollah of civilians as human shields, and for other purposes."

The bill also indicated that throughout the 2006 conflict between Hebzbollah and Israel, Hezbollah utilized human shields to protect themselves from Israeli counterattacks, including storing weapons inside civilian homes and firing rockets from inside populated civilian areas.

Hezbollah has rearmed itself to include an arsenal of over 150,000 missiles provided by the Syrian and Iranian governments. Hezbollah conceals the weapons in Shi’ite villages in southern Lebanon, according to HR 3342.

The bill requires the US administration to consider the use of human shields by Hezbollah as a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights and to officially and publicly condemn the use of innocent civilians as human shields by Hezbollah. It also asks the government to take effective action against those that engage in the breach of international law through the use of human shields.

It also asks the President to direct the US Permanent Representative at the UN to secure support for a resolution that would impose multilateral sanctions against Hezbollah for its use of civilians as human shields.



Activist Aid Ship Nears Gaza After Reaching Egypt Coast

 Climate activist Greta Thunberg stands near a Palestinian flag after boarding the Madleen boat and before setting sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP)
Climate activist Greta Thunberg stands near a Palestinian flag after boarding the Madleen boat and before setting sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP)
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Activist Aid Ship Nears Gaza After Reaching Egypt Coast

 Climate activist Greta Thunberg stands near a Palestinian flag after boarding the Madleen boat and before setting sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP)
Climate activist Greta Thunberg stands near a Palestinian flag after boarding the Madleen boat and before setting sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP)

An aid ship with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, has reached the Egyptian coast and is nearing the besieged Palestinian territory, organizers said on Saturday.

The Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Sicily last week with a cargo of relief supplies "to break Israel's blockade on Gaza".

"We are now sailing off the Egyptian coast," German human rights activist Yasemin Acar told AFP. "We are all good," she added.

In a statement from London on Saturday, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza -- a member organization of the flotilla coalition -- said the ship had entered Egyptian waters.

The group said it remains in contact with international legal and human rights bodies to ensure the safety of those on board, warning that any interception would constitute "a blatant violation of international humanitarian law".

European parliament member Rima Hassan, who is on board the vessel, urged governments to "guarantee safe passage for the Freedom Flotilla."

The Palestinian territory was under Israeli naval blockade even before the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas that sparked the Gaza war and Israel has enforced its blockade with military action in the past.

A 2010 commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar aid flotilla trying to breach the blockade, left 10 civilians dead.

In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported coming under drone attack while en route for Gaza, prompting Cyprus and Malta to send rescue vessels in response to its distress call. There were no reports of any casualties.

Earlier in its voyage, the Madleen changed course near the Greek island of Crete after receiving a distress signal from a sinking migrant boat.

Activists rescued four Sudanese migrants who had jumped into the sea to avoid being returned to Libya. The four were later transferred to an EU Frontex vessel.

Launched in 2010, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition is a coalition of groups opposed to the blockade on humanitarian aid for Gaza that Israel imposed on March 2 and has only partially eased since.

Israel has faced mounting international condemnation over the resulting humanitarian crisis in the territory, where the United Nations has warned the entire population of more than two million is at risk of famine.