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Hezbollah condemns Australia’s blacklisting of Shiekh Naim Qassem

Tuesday, 04 February 2025 7:19 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 04 February 2025 7:19 PM ]

Sheikh Naim Qassem is the secretary-general of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has condemned Australia’s “unjust decision” to impose sanctions on the movement’s Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem, stating that the move proves Canberra is being used as a tool to advance the US-Zionist agenda.

“This unjust decision has no legal or moral basis, but rather represents a clear bias in favor of the Zionist entity and serves as a cover-up for its aggression and terrorism,” the movement said, referring to the genocide in Gaza.

The measure against Sheikh Qassem was announced on Monday by the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the pretext of “terrorism financing.”

Australia had previously designated Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organization in 2003 and blacklisted the entire group, both its military and political branches, in 2021.

Hezbollah said Canberra should have instead taken action to “punish the Zionist murderers” and stand “with the oppressed Lebanese and Palestinian peoples.”

“The peoples of the world have witnessed all the massacres and crimes committed by the Zionist enemy against innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon, and they have come to realize who the real terrorist is, who practices genocide and war crimes and who provides it with political and legal cover and participates in these massacres,” Hezbollah stated.

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The group said the decision would not affect the morale of its loyal supporters in Lebanon, nor Hezbollah’s stance and its natural right to resist, defend Lebanon, and support the just cause of the Palestinian people.

“Rather, it will strengthen our determination and steadfastness to continue the efforts in confronting the occupier,” the statement read.

Sheikh Qassem was appointed as Hezbollah’s leader last year after Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, the iconic leader, was martyred in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut in late September.

The attack was carried out after the Zionist regime failed to halt Hezbollah’s military operations, which were aimed at stopping the genocide in Gaza.

The Israel-Hezbollah exchange of fire ended with a ceasefire agreement signed in late November.

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