New Zealand officially designates Hezbollah and Houthi as terrorist organizations

On November 21, New Zealand designated the entire Hezbollah movement as a terrorist organization, a move that changed from a 2010 decision that listed only the movement's military wing.

Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon. (Source: AP)

"On 20 November, under section 22 of the Terrorism Act 2002, Hezbollah was designated as a terrorist entity in New Zealand," the New Zealand Gazette reported, citing a government statement.

The decision was made by the New Zealand government following a request from police, the newspaper said, citing decades of terrorist activity, most recently the arrest of two men with links to Hezbollah who were allegedly planning an attack on a Jewish community in Brazil.

Speaking about the decision, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said: "To consider any organization a terrorist organization under national law, we must have evidence and must go through a number of tests to determine that the organization has committed terrorist acts."

According to him, in addition to Hezbollah, the Houthi movement in Yemen is also listed as a terrorist group.

New Zealand's decision means it will be an offence for any organisation or individual to conduct property or financial transactions with Hezbollah or Houthi or provide support to the two movements. It will also freeze all assets of these organisations in New Zealand.

New Zealand is the 30th country to list the entire Hezbollah organization as a terrorist organization. Previously, it only listed Hezbollah's military wing. In late February, New Zealand also designated the political branch of the Hamas movement in Gaza as a terrorist organization.

In response to this move, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar expressed his welcome on social network X. Hezbollah and Houthi have not yet responded to New Zealand's decision.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/new-zealand-chinh-thuc-coi-hezbollah-va-houthi-la-cac-to-chuc-khung-bo-294528.html