Parliamentary Immunity Does Not Protect Hezbollah MPs From US Sanctions

Members of Hezbollah parliamentary bloc are seen during a regular meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon July 11, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Members of Hezbollah parliamentary bloc are seen during a regular meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon July 11, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
TT
20

Parliamentary Immunity Does Not Protect Hezbollah MPs From US Sanctions

Members of Hezbollah parliamentary bloc are seen during a regular meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon July 11, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Members of Hezbollah parliamentary bloc are seen during a regular meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon July 11, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

The political and legal repercussions of the sanctions imposed by the US Treasury Department against Hezbollah deputies and officials have not yet crystallized, pushing the party to express, for the first time, its concern over the internal and external effects of such sanctions. This comes amid leaking information about a new list that will include leaders of parties close to the movement.

Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc - headed by MP Mohammad Raad, who is under the US sanctions along with MP Amin Sherri - described the US recent move as “an aggression against Lebanon, its people and its choices,” describing it as “unacceptable and condemned by all sovereign and moral standards.”

“It will not change anything in our convictions or in our resistance to the Israeli occupation,” the bloc added.

Dr. Shafiq al-Masri, professor of international law at the American University of Beirut, said: “The sanctions are issued by one state and not by the international community; their effects are limited to any dealing of the concerned people with the Americans.”

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, al-Masri noted that the US administration has merged Hezbollah’s political and military wings years ago, “while the European Union was still conservative on that, except for Britain, which is in the process of getting out of the Union.”

As for the impact of these sanctions on the parliamentary immunity enjoyed by the Hezbollah deputies, al-Masri said that parliamentary immunity was effective on Lebanese territory and did not extend to other countries. He pointed out that international treaties granted cross-border immunity only to the president of the Republic, the prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs.

Dr. Sami Nader, the director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, said that sanctions “go beyond the question of individuals and their interests to reach the Lebanese state since Hezbollah is an essential part of its structure.”

“There are no legal channels to circumvent the sanctions,” he underlined.



UN Rapporteur Calls for Global Action to Stop ‘Genocide’ in Gaza

 UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
20

UN Rapporteur Calls for Global Action to Stop ‘Genocide’ in Gaza

 UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)

The United Nations’ special rapporteur for Gaza and the West Bank said Tuesday that it's time for nations around the world to take concrete actions to stop what she called the “genocide” in Gaza.

Francesca Albanese spoke to delegates from 30 countries meeting in Colombia’s capital to discuss the Israel-Hamas war and ways that nations can try to stop Israel’s military offensive in the territory. Many of the participating nations have described the violence as genocide against the Palestinians.

“Each state must immediately review and suspend all ties with the State of Israel ... and ensure its private sector does the same,” Albanese said. “The Israeli economy is structured to sustain the occupation that has now turned genocidal.”

The two-day conference organized by the governments of Colombia and South Africa is being attended mostly by developing nations, although the governments of Spain, Ireland and China have also sent delegates.

Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic “blood libel.”

Analysts say it’s not clear whether the conference's participating countries have enough leverage over Israel to force it to change its policies in Gaza, where more than 58,000 people have been killed in Israeli military operations following a deadly Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. The death toll comes from the health ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas government and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

“The United States has so far failed to influence Israel’s behavior ... so it is naive to think that this group of countries can have any influence over (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s behavior or on the government of Israel,” said Sandra Borda, a professor of international relations at Bogota’s Los Andes University.

She said, however, that the conference will enable some nations of the Global South to clarify their position toward the conflict and have their voices heard.

The conference is co-chaired by the governments of South Africa and Colombia, which last year suspended coal exports to Israeli power plants, and includes the participation of members of The Hague Group, a coalition of eight nations that earlier this year pledged to cut military ties with Israel and to comply with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu.

For decades, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank with its own history of oppression under the harsh apartheid regime of white minority rule, which restricted most Blacks to “homelands” before ending in 1994.

South Africa’s current argument is rooted in the sentiment that Palestinians have been oppressed in their homeland as Black South Africans were under apartheid.

The gathering comes as the European Union weighs various measures against Israel that include a ban on imports from Israeli settlements, an arms embargo and individual sanctions against Israeli officials, who are found to be blocking a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Colombia’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Mauricio Jaramillo said Monday that the nations participating in the Bogota meeting, which also include Qatar and Türkiye, will be discussing diplomatic and judicial measures that can be taken to put more pressure on Israel to cease its attacks.

The Colombian official described Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as an affront to the international order.

“This is not just about Palestine” Jaramillo said in a press conference. “It is about defending international law... and the right to self-determination.”