British home secretary plans to outlaw Hezbollah

UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid plans later this year to outlaw Hezbollah in Britain, according to a report in the London-based Jewish Chronicle.

Javid pledged to take “decisive action” against the terrorist organization, according to the Tuesday report, which cited a senior Conservative Party source for the full-blown proscription.

The Jewish Chronicle said Javid made his decision to crack down on Hezbollah “ahead of last weekend’s Quds Day march in London, where Hezbollah flags were once again flown.”

“Sajid is a very different beast to the home secretary he has just replaced,” said a Tory source to the Chronicle. The source added: “Amber Rudd spoke repeatedly about taking action over Hezbollah – but for whatever reason was not able to get around to doing anything. Sajid has vowed to take decisive action on the matter. He will make this very clear over the forthcoming weeks.”

The United Kingdom banned only Hezbollah’s military wing in 2008 because Hezbollah attacked British troops in Iraq. The only European country to have imposed a full ban on Hezbollah is the Netherlands.

The UK’s Home Office can classify organizations as terrorist entities. The European Union included only Hezbollah’s military wing in its terrorist organization list in 2013. The EU designation of Hezbollah in 2013 came on the heels of the attack on an Israeli tourist bus in Burgas, Bulgaria. Three Hezbollah operatives blew up an Israeli bus, killing five Israelis and their Bulgarian Muslim bus driver. An additional 32 Israelis were wounded.

If the UK designates all of Hezbollah as a terrorist entity, England will join the US, Canada, the Netherlands and the Arab League countries, which have previously proscribed Hezbollah as a terrorism group. Germany has been the European country most resistant to banning Hezbollah. According to German intelligence, there are 950 active Hezbollah operatives in Germany who raise funds and recruit members.