Germany arrests suspected Hezbollah member – DW – 07/15/2024

A suspected member of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been arrested in Germany, prosecutors said on Monday.

He was accused of procuring components for drones believed to be used in attacks on Israel.

What else do we know about the suspected Hezbollah member?

Prosecutors said the Lebanese man, identified only as Fadel Z. in line with German privacy laws, was detained on Sunday in the town of Salzgitter in the northwestern state of Lower Saxony.

He was “strongly suspected of membership of a foreign terrorist organization,” federal prosecutors said in a statement.

The man was accused of procuring “components, particularly engines for the assembly of drones” that “were supposed to be exported to Lebanon and used in terrorist attacks on Israel.”

Prosecutors said the man was suspected of having joined Hezbollah “no later than in summer 2016.”

Hezbollah banned in Germany

Germany classifies Hezbollah as a “Shiite [Muslim] terrorist organization” and banned the group from carrying out activities on German territory in 2020.

Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and several Sunni Arab countries, while the EU lists its armed wing as a terrorist group.

The armed group controls predominantly Shiite areas of the capital, Beirut, as well as areas in Lebanon’s south and east. Hezbollah’s political wing is one of the major parties in the country’s coalition government under Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Hezbollah is allied with the Hamas militant group, which is fighting Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

The war between Hamas and Israel began on October 7, when the militant group launched attacks on southern Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel the following day, with both sides exchanging fire regularly since then.

International leaders have voiced concerns that hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel could spark a broader regional conflict.

sdi/ab (AFP, dpa)