A suspected member of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been arrested in Germany, prosecutors announced Monday.
He was accused of supplying components for drones intended to be used in attacks against Israel.
What else do we know about the alleged Hezbollah member?
Prosecutors said the Lebanese man, identified only as Fadel Z. under German privacy laws, was arrested Sunday in the town of Salzgitter in the northwestern state of Lower Saxony.
He was “strongly suspected of membership in a foreign terrorist organization,” federal prosecutors said in a statement.
The man was accused of purchasing “components, including engines for assembling drones” that “were supposed to be exported to Lebanon and used in terrorist attacks against Israel.”
Prosecutors said the man was suspected of joining Hezbollah “no later than the summer of 2016.”
Hezbollah banned in Germany
Germany classifies Hezbollah as a “Shiite (Muslim) terrorist organization” and banned the group from operating in German territory in 2020.
Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Germany and several Sunni Arab countries, while the EU classifies its armed wing as a terrorist group.
The armed group controls predominantly Shiite neighborhoods in the capital, Beirut, as well as parts of southern and eastern Lebanon. Hezbollah’s political wing is one of the main parties in the government coalition led by Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Hezbollah is allied with the militant group Hamas, 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 in southern Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel the next day, and the two sides have exchanged fire regularly since then.
International leaders have expressed concern that hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel could spark a broader regional conflict.
sdi/ab (AFP, dpa)
News Source : amp.dw.com
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