Israel Brands as 'Terrorist' Palestinian Student Group

Palestinian officials on Thursday denounced a decision by Israel to brand the student branch of the hardline Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine as a "terrorist" organization.

Israel, the United States and the European Union consider the leftist militant PFLP as a terrorist organization.

On Wednesday, Israeli General Tamir Yadai said in a statement that the army now considers the PFLP's student branch of as an "illegal and terrorist" entity.

Yadai, who heads the Israeli army's Central Command in the occupied West Bank, claimed the branch had been for years behind "destructive acts that led to the deaths of many Israeli citizens."

He accused the PFLP of "recruiting young men to commit acts of terrorism."

Palestinian social development minister Ahmed Majdalani said the designation was "dangerous" and stressed the student branch of the PFLP was an "unarmed" body.

Majdalani also voiced concern the Israeli move could lead to a crackdown on young Palestinian activists.

According to PFLP official Ahmad al-Tanani, Israeli authorities had arrested more than 60 Palestinian students since the beginning of the year.

The PFLP is a fiercely anti-Israeli Marxist-Leninist group that pioneered plane hijackings in the 1970s to highlight the Palestinian cause.