Swiss decide against banning Hezbollah

The Swiss government, which previously drafted a law explicitly banning Hamas activities and support for the Palestinian militants, decided this week against doing the same for the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Parliamentary security policy committees had called for a ban on Hezbollah, but in its response published Thursday, the federal government said the conditions had not been met.

Switzerland's Federal Council said the group could not be banned as a threat to security under the country's intelligence act because the existing law required sanctions or a ban by the United Nations to be in place in order for such a move to be applied.

It said it banned Hamas over the "unprecedented terrorist attacks" of October 7, 2023, in line with the practice of proscribing organizations on a case-by-case basis only "for extremely serious reasons".

"Bans on organizations must continue to follow this political line," it said, judging that it was "not appropriate" to create a new law to ban Hezbollah.

The lower house of parliament's security committee had said that "like Hamas, Hezbollah is a radical Islamic terrorist organization responsible for numerous acts of violence and human rights violations" which "represents a threat to the stability of the entire region".

It demanded that the government "issue a comprehensive ban on Hezbollah".

Parliament will consider the government's position during its December 2-20 session, and will also vote on the law to ban Hamas, Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS reported.

The draft law provides for a five-year ban on Hamas.

The Swiss government's decision came as a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war largely held for a second day Thursday.

The truce ended a war that began a day after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel from Gaza, killing thousands in Lebanon and sparking mass displacements in both Lebanon and Israel.

Israel shifted its focus from Gaza to Lebanon in September to secure its northern border from Hezbollah attacks, dealing the Iran-backed movement a series of staggering blows.