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.



Nasrallah’s Bodyguard Killed in Israeli Airstrike on Iran, Hezbollah Says

A supporter of Hezbollah carries a picture of Hezbollah's late leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the Israeli attack on Iran, organized by Hezbollah following Friday prayer in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 20 June 2025. (EPA)
A supporter of Hezbollah carries a picture of Hezbollah's late leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the Israeli attack on Iran, organized by Hezbollah following Friday prayer in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 20 June 2025. (EPA)
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Nasrallah’s Bodyguard Killed in Israeli Airstrike on Iran, Hezbollah Says

A supporter of Hezbollah carries a picture of Hezbollah's late leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the Israeli attack on Iran, organized by Hezbollah following Friday prayer in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 20 June 2025. (EPA)
A supporter of Hezbollah carries a picture of Hezbollah's late leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the Israeli attack on Iran, organized by Hezbollah following Friday prayer in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 20 June 2025. (EPA)

The head of security to slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike while in Iran, a Hezbollah official said Saturday.

Abu Ali Khalil, better known as Abu Ali Jawad, was killed after he went to Iran from neighboring Iraq, the official said.

For many years, Abu Ali was seen behind Nasrallah during most of his public appearances.

After Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in a Beirut suburb in September, his bodyguard was put in charge of his tomb in Beirut.

The Hezbollah official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the airstrike that killed Abu Ali occurred earlier Saturday.