July 1, 2024
What’s behind Arab League decision to drop Hezbollah terror label?
The move comes as the region is boiling in light of the war in Gaza and the escalating conflict between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel.
BEIRUT, NEW YORK — Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki said Friday that the 22-member organization had dropped the terror classification of Hezbollah, in what experts see as a push by Egypt to try a different approach and engage the Iran-backed militant group.
Speaking to Egypt's television channel Al-Qahera News, Zaki said Hezbollah was referred to as a terrorist group in previous Arab League resolutions, which is why communication between the league and the group was cut off.
“The member states of the league agreed that the label of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization should no longer be employed,” he said, stressing that the Arab League does not have terrorist lists and does not designate entities as such.
Zaki’s comments stirred widespread controversy on social media over the weekend, as cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israel threatens to snowball into a full-blown conflict. Several social media users accused Zaki and the Arab League secretary-general of serving their own interests by dropping the terror label while disregarding the member states. Others criticized Zaki, considering that Hezbollah’s weapons were illegal.
On Monday, Zaki clarified his previous comments in an interview with the local television channel Al Jadeed. He explained that during its summit in Jeddah in May 2023, the Arab League amended a 2016 resolution condemning Iranian interference in Arab affairs to include the removal of Hezbollah’s terror label.
“When the description of Hezbollah as a ‘terrorist’ was removed a year ago, there was no longer any objection to meeting,” he added, referring to communications between Hezbollah and the Arab League.
Commenting on the criticism he received on social media, Zaki said his comments were blown out of proportion and the accusations he received were not true.
ezbollah fighters attend the funerals of Hezbollah fighters Abbas Ahmad Srour and Mohammad Hussein Kassem during their funeral on June 29, 2024 in Aita al Chaab, Lebanon. Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been trading cross-border fire since the October 7 attacks, with the conflict escalating in May when the group launched a missile-carrying drone against Israel for the first time. Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images
US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel criticized the Arab League's move on Monday, saying Hezbollah "remains a dangerous terrorist organization and a destabilizing force in the Middle East."
"We believe that there’s no reason to take steps to remove such a designation, and we have continued to urge governments around the world to designate ban or restrict Hezbollah,” Patel told reporters during a briefing.
Zaki was in Beirut last Thursday for a two-day visit, where he met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, as well as the heads of the Free Patriotic Movement, the Kataeb Party and the Marada party to discuss the latest developments.
He also sat down with the head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, in the first such meeting between an Arab League official and Hezbollah in years. Zaki told Al Jadeed that he informed Raad of the Arab League's decision to drop the terrorist wording from its resolutions.
He added that his visit to Beirut had two goals: first, to show his solidarity with Lebanon amid fears that the cross-border hostilities may expand into a full-blown war; second, to discuss the presidential file. Lebanon’s leaders have failed to elect a head of state since the end of former President Michel Aoun’s term in October 2022 amid deep political divisions.
Hezbollah has not commented on Zaki’s remarks.
The paramilitary group has been engaged in heavy fighting with Israel since the war in the Gaza Strip erupted last October. Hezbollah says its battle is in support of the Palestinian Hamas group. Tensions have escalated in recent weeks, raising concerns of a wider war that would expand to the rest of the country.
Hezbollah was founded in 1982 to fight off the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon. It was the only Lebanese faction to have kept its weapons after the end of the country’s civil war in 1990 and after the Israeli withdrawal in 2000. The movement insists that its growing arsenal is necessary for resistance against Israel.
With strong funding and armament from Iran, Hezbollah has gained significant sway in Lebanon and continues to develop its stockpiles. The group has also been engaged in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
A 'need to engage'
Randa Slim, a scholar and the director of the Track II Dialogues Program at the Middle East Institute, said a number of political factors led the Arab League to change its views of Hezbollah. According to her, the Arab League's classification of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization was preventing the body from engaging directly with the group, and Egypt's participation in the "quintet" of countries working to solve the Lebanese political crisis helped spur the change.
"The driving country behind this has been Egypt," Slim told Al-Monitor. "There has been a push by Egypt that Hezbollah is an important political actor in the country, and we need to engage with it."
Egypt, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United States form a quintet that is seeking to help Lebanon agree on a new president.
The Arab League's reversal on Hezbollah follows improving ties between Arab states in the Gulf and Hezbollah's main backer, Iran. Saudi Arabia and Iran re-established diplomatic relations in March of last year. Saudi Arabia and Syria resumed ties the following May, the same month Syria was readmitted to the Arab League.
Slim said she believes there is no longer opposition from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to removing the classification, despite their continued concerns about the group.
"They have concerns about Hezbollah in relation to Iran's regional agenda," she said. "But they have decided that they need to take a different approach to addressing these concerns. In the past, it was confrontation, isolating Iran. Today, they are opting for dialogue with Iran, and maybe some kind of an engagement with Iran."
In March, senior Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa visited the UAE in a bid to free Lebanese citizens detained in the country.
Support for the Palestinians
Hezbollah has framed its attacks on Israel as in support of Palestinians in Gaza. The argument has "resonated" with the Arab public, Slim said.
"That makes it hard for Arab leaders, who are seen by the public as not supportive enough of the Palestinians in this war," she said in reference to classifying Hezbollah as a terrorist group. "It creates this political context that makes it harder to continue with this kind of approach to Hezbollah."