Palestinian Factions Condemn Australia's Designation of Hezbollah a "Terrorist Organization"

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Hamas Spokesperson Hazem Qassem said that the Movement condemns 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, and it constitutes a blatant bias toward the occupation and a cover-up for its terrorism and continuous aggression against our Arab and Islamic nation, at the forefront of which is Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine.”

In a statement, Qassem pointed out that Hezbollah's resistance to the occupation, and its humanitarian, religious, national, and moral duty against the Israeli continuous aggressive attempts, as well as defending its people and land from Zionist aggressions, is an undeniable, legitimate act protected by all international laws and humanitarian and national norms.

He also explained that "classifying the Palestinian and Arab Resistance forces as terrorist organizations by some countries further encourages the Zionist entity and provides it with the cover it needs to escalate its crimes against the peoples of our nation, which makes these countries an accomplice in the Israeli occupation’s crimes, on the one hand, and threatens security and peace in the region and the world, on the other."

Qassem continued to say that the Palestinian and Arab Resistance, spearheaded by Hamas and Hezbollah, will continue to perform its natural and principled duty to resist the brutal occupation and stand against its presence on Arab land by all means, despite similar hollow decisions that will not deter our peoples and resistance from pursuing their path."

The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement’s statement

On its part, the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement said that "this Australian designation, which identifies with the Western accusation of the Resistance forces of terrorism, comes in the context of protecting the entity and reveals the reality of the servile Western subordination to the Zionist desires and its lobbies around the world."

The Movement’s statement also stressed that the Resistance movements are but a natural expression of the people’s pursuit of freedom, which is a legitimate right and a national duty, adding, “It would have been better for the international regimes to classify the Zionist occupation as a terrorist entity because of its arrogance and oppression against children, women, and all our Palestinian people.”

It is worth noting that Australia announced the designation of all members of the Lebanese Resistance Movement Hezbollah, with its military and political wings, as a "terrorist organization”.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said that Hezbollah “continues to threaten terrorist attacks and provide support to terrorist organizations", posing a "real" and "credible" threat to Australia, according to AFP.

On its part, Hezbollah condemned the Australian authorities’ decision to classify it as a “terrorist organization”, considering it “a humiliating submission to American and Zionist diktats.”

In a statement, Hezbollah stressed that this decision "will not affect the morale of our loyal people in Lebanon, nor the morale of the free people in the world, nor the position of Hezbollah and its natural right to resistance and support to the resistance movements."