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Germany Mulling Total Ban on Hezbollah

Hezbollah fighters parade during the inauguration of a new cemetery for their fighters who died fighting against Israel, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on November 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
Hezbollah fighters parade during the inauguration of a new cemetery for their fighters who died fighting against Israel, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on November 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
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Germany Mulling Total Ban on Hezbollah

Hezbollah fighters parade during the inauguration of a new cemetery for their fighters who died fighting against Israel, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on November 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
Hezbollah fighters parade during the inauguration of a new cemetery for their fighters who died fighting against Israel, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on November 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

Five months after Germany’s Bundestag rejected a bill to outlaw the Lebanese Hezbollah in the federal republic, the government is now heading to fully ban the activities of the Iranian-backed group on its soil.

German news magazine Der Spiegel reported Thursday that the foreign, interior and justice ministries in Berlin had agreed to move towards outlawing Hezbollah.

It said that the decision was to be announced at the German interior ministers' meeting next week.

The German government and the European Union only consider Hezbollah’s so-called military wing as a terrorist entity.

Hezbollah’s political wing operates in Germany by raising funds, recruiting new members and spreading its ideology.

According to Der Spiegel, the government decision would ban all Hezbollah activities on German soil, including the waving of its yellow flag, which has been shown during pro-Iranian and anti-Israeli demonstrations in Berlin.

Every year on Al-Quds Day, Hezbollah stages an anti-Israeli rally in Berlin during which protesters raise the yellow flag.

According to intelligence estimates, there are about 1,000 Hezbollah members and supporters in Germany alone.

There are concerns in Germany that Hezbollah supporters are sending money to Lebanon to finance the organization’s activities.

Der Speigel said Germany has granted the attorney general “more powers” to investigate Hezbollah-related activities without having to ask the justice ministry for permission each time.

When contacted by Asharq Al-Awsat, the three concerned German ministries refused to comment on the newspaper report.

“So far, there is no official decision taken in that regard,” the interior ministry responded.

However, Mustafa Ammar, a candidate for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of Germany for the 2021 elections, confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that secret talks took place during a congress held by the CDU last week in the city of Leipzig over the means to limit anti-Semitism in Germany, especially in schools.

“One of the measures included the total banning of Hezbollah and its activities,” Ammar said.

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Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
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Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)

Israeli forces have blocked supply routes to the southern Lebanese border city of al-Khiam ahead of storming it.

They have also surrounded the strategic city with Hezbollah fighters still inside, launching artillery and air attacks against them.

Hezbollah fighters have been holding out in Khiam for 25 days. The capture of the city would be significant and allow Israeli forces easier passage into southern Lebanon.

Field sources said Israeli forces have already entered some neighborhoods of Khiam from its eastern and southern outskirts, expanding their incursion into its northern and eastern sectors to fully capture the city.

They cast doubt on claims that the city has been fully captured, saying fighting is still taking place deeper inside its streets and alleys, citing the ongoing artillery fire and drone and air raids.

Israel has already cut off Hezbollah’s supply routes by seizing control of Bourj al-Mamlouk, Tall al-Nahas and olive groves in al-Qlaa in the Marayoun region. Its forces have also fanned out to the west towards the Litani River.

The troops have set up a “line of fire” spanning at least seven kms around Khiam to deter anti-tank attacks from Hezbollah and to launch artillery, drone and aerial attacks, said the sources.

The intense pressure has forced Hezbollah to resort to suicide drone attacks against Israeli forces.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar television said Israeli forces tried to carry out a new incursion towards Khiam’s northern neighborhoods.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that since Friday night, Israeli forces have been using “all forms of weapons in their attempt to capture Khiam, which Israel views as a strategic gateway through which it can make rapid ground advances.”

It reported an increase in air and artillery attacks in the past two days as the forces try to storm the city.

The troops are trying to advance on Khiam by first surrounding it from all sides under air cover, it continued.

They are also booby-trapping some homes and buildings and then destroying them, similar to what they have done in other southern towns, such as Adeisseh, Yaround, Aitaroun and Mais al-Jabal.

Khiam holds symbolic significance to the Lebanese people because it was the first city liberated following Israel’s implementation of United Nations Security Council 425 on May 25, 2000, that led to its withdrawal from the South in a day that Hezbollah has since declared Liberation Day.