Australia to list Hamas as a “terrorist organization"
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Australia announces its intention to designate the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas as a "terrorist organization", without explaining the reasons that prompted such a step.
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Hamas holds the majority of the Palestinian National Authority's parliament.
The Australian federal government will designate the entirety of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas, including its political arm, as a “terrorist organization”.
Australia had already blacklisted Hamas' military wing, but now it will join the United Kingdom, the United States, and others in extending the designation to Hamas’ political component.
The Palestinian resistance is currently facing unprecedented domestic aggression from the Israeli occupation, and has vowed to retaliate in case further attacks and attempts at uprooting the people of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood persist from settlers and Knesset members. Israeli media depicted Israeli fear of a security escalation on Palestinian land as "real."
It is worth mentioning that Hamas holds the majority of seats in the Palestinian National Authority's parliament.
On her account, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews claims that the views of Hamas were "deeply disturbing".
"It is vital that our laws target not only terrorist acts and terrorists, but also the organizations that plan, finance and carry out these acts," she added.
Late last year, Australia listed Hezbollah in its entirety as a "terrorist organization", extending a current ban on its military wing to include the entire movement.
Membership in the entire organization, as well as funding for it, will now be prohibited in Australia, which has a large Lebanese community. Interestingly enough, the Lebanese resistance also holds a large number of seats in the Lebanese parliament, rendering it one of the most influential political parties in Lebanon.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said that the Movement condemned Australia's decision to designate Lebanese Hezbollah as a “terrorist” organization, considering that "the decision is a form of submission to the Zionist will and to the pressures of the rogue enemy entity."
No reason was given for the timing of Australia’s decision, which came as Lebanon suffers from deep political and economic crises.
