The German government announced on Wednesday the ban of three organizations connected to the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, Israel's arch-enemy, amid rising military tensions in the Middle East. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer tweeted that Berlin "has banned three associations that were funding the terrorist organization Hezbollah." He further stated that "those who support terrorism will not be safe in Germany (...) they will not find a quiet refuge in our country."
He added that "search operations" are taking place in "several German states" concurrently with this ban. German media reported that these operations are primarily being conducted in the states of Hamburg, Bremen, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Schleswig-Holstein.
Germany and all EU member states have previously classified Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist organization. The political activities of the party, which regularly organized anti-Israel demonstrations, remained allowed for a long time before being banned in 2020 in the country.
This announcement from the Ministry of Interior comes in the context of military escalation in the Middle East over the past week between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel. Several rockets were launched from southern Lebanon toward Israel on Monday evening, to which Israel responded by firing artillery towards the sources of fire, according to security sources from both countries. This marks the second time rockets have been fired from Lebanon toward Israel since the onset of hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians.
Hezbollah, Israel's arch-enemy, has not commented on this latest rocket launch, nor on the rockets fired on May 13 from southern Lebanon that fell into the sea. In light of this new military escalation, German authorities are concerned about a rise in anti-Semitism in the country.
In Berlin, pro-Palestinian demonstrations have occurred, involving confrontations and arrests. Last week, Israeli flags were burned outside two Jewish synagogues in Münster and Bonn. The spokesperson for German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated at that time that "our democracy will not tolerate anti-Semitic demonstrations."
