III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 377 

Urging the European Union to designate Hizballah in its entirety as a 

terrorist organization. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 22 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 21), 2021 

Ms. ROSEN (for herself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the European Union to designate Hizballah in its 

entirety as a terrorist organization. 

Whereas, in April 1983, a Hizballah terror attack against the 

United States Embassy in Beirut killed 63 people; 

Whereas, in October 1983, a Hizballah terror attack against 

the United States and French barracks of the Multinational Force in Lebanon killed 241 American and 58 

French soldiers; 

Whereas, in July 2012, a Hizballah terror attack, carried out 

by an operative with French citizenship, in Burgas, Bulgaria, killed 5 Israeli tourists and 1 Bulgarian; 

Whereas, in March 2013, a Swedish-Lebanese Hizballah operative in Cyprus was convicted of planning terror attacks against Israeli tourists; 


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•SRES 377 IS 

Whereas, in June 2015, a Hizballah operative was sentenced 

to 6 years in prison after he stockpiled more than 8 tons 

of ammonium nitrate in Cyprus; 

Whereas, in December 2015, the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015 (Public Law 114–102) 

was signed into law in the United States, broadening financial sector sanctions against Hizballah to compel foreign financial institutions to refrain from supporting the 

terrorist group; 

Whereas, in May 2018, the Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi, a 

Hizballah financier, and blacklisted 5 of his companies, 

including Belgian energy services conglomerate Global 

Trading Group; 

Whereas, in October 2018, French police raided the Islamic 

Zahra Centre on suspicion of supporting Hizballah, freezing the organization’s funds, and seizing illegal weapons; 

Whereas, in September 2020, 4 former leaders of the Zahra 

Centre were arrested on suspicion of continuing to run 

the association; 

Whereas, in July 2019, the Department of the Treasury listed 2 Hizballah-backed members of Lebanese Parliament, 

Amin Sherri and Mohammad Raad, to the terror blacklist, stating that Hizballah uses its parliamentary power 

to advance its violent activities; 

Whereas, in April 2020, Germany investigated over 1,050 

people with suspected links to Hizballah; 

Whereas Europol’s June 2020 European Union Terrorism 

Situation and Trend Report outlined that Hizballah is 

‘‘suspected of trafficking diamonds and drugs and of 

money laundering via the trade in second-hand cars’’, 


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•SRES 377 IS 

and the report also stated that ‘‘investigations face the 

difficulty of demonstrating that the funds collected are 

channeled to the military wing of the organization’’; 

Whereas United States-led Operations Cassandra and Cedar 

exposed the criminal-business wing of Hizballah via the 

External Security Organization Business Affairs Component (BAC); 

Whereas, during Operation Cassandra, Hizballah elements involved in drug trafficking were arrested in the United 

States, South America, and several European countries, 

including France, Belgium, Germany, and Italy; 

Whereas Hizballah’s criminal activity in Europe is run by the 

BAC, which reports to the External Security Organisation, a.k.a. Unit 910, or the Islamic Jihad Organization 

(IJO), and Abdallah Safieddine, Hizballah’s representative in Iran, is also involved in this activity; 

Whereas, in August 2020, United Nations Secretary General 

Guterres called on Lebanon to disarm Hizballah, citing 

the terror group’s persistent violation of Resolution 1701 

(2006); 

Whereas Iran is the prime sponsor of Hizballah, harboring, 

financing, training, and arming the group; 

Whereas the Department of the Treasury and Department of 

State estimate that Iran provides as much as 

$700,000,000 per year to Hizballah in the form of financial and logistical support, weapons, and training; 

Whereas Hizballah now has an arsenal of approximately 

150,000 missiles and rockets, many of which can reach 

deep into Israel; 


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•SRES 377 IS 

Whereas Hizballah fighters have been supporting the Assad 

regime in Syria, often leading operations in the conflict 

which has left more than 500,000 dead; 

Whereas Hizballah’s destabilizing actions in Syria has fueled 

a migrant crisis that has brought over 700,000 refugees 

to Europe; 

Whereas Hizballah trains and provides weapons for Shiite militias in Iraq and Yemen, further destabilizing the region 

and perpetuating violence in those countries; 

Whereas Hizballah activities continue to plague Lebanon with 

profound economic and political instability and violence; 

Whereas, in August 2020, 200 Lebanese people died when a 

massive stockpile of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut’s port; 

Whereas the Lebanese Armed Forces, the legitimate security 

establishment of the country as outlined in United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006), are struggling to control the flow of weapons and Hizballah fighters at Lebanon’s borders; 

Whereas, in October 2012, Hizballah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem stated that ‘‘[Hizballah does not] have 

a military wing and a political one . . . Every element 

of Hizballah, from commanders to members as well as 

our various capabilities, are in the service of the resistance’’; 

Whereas, as of September 2021, the United States, Germany, 

the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Estonia, Latvia, 

Lithuania, Slovenia, Serbia, and Kosovo have designated 

Hizballah in its entirety as a terror organization; 

Whereas, in March 2016, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the 

bloc of 6 Gulf Arab nations, formally branded Hizballah, 


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•SRES 377 IS 

in its entirety, a terrorist organization, and the League 

of Arab States shortly thereafter adopted the same designation; 

Whereas the Department of the Treasury has diligently 

added persons and entities to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists who have provided material 

support to the Hizballah terrorist organization, thereby 

hampering its financing and logistical capabilities; 

Whereas the European Union, in July 2013, designated 

Hizballah’s so-called ‘‘military wing’’, but not the organization as a whole, as a terrorist organization; 

Whereas, despite restrictions put on Hizballah since the designation of its military wing, the group continues to conduct illicit narcotrafficking, money laundering, and weapons trafficking throughout Europe and the world; 

Whereas, in September 2021, the European Parliament 

passed a resolution on the situation in Lebanon stating 

that ‘‘whereas Hezbollah has repeatedly shown its strong 

ideological allegiance with Iran, which is destabilising the 

Lebanese Government and undermining its much-needed 

cohesion’’; and 

Whereas the Senate has previously called on the European 

Union to fully designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization, agreeing to Senate Resolution 482 in July 2016: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) applauds and expresses support for the con3 tinued, increased cooperation between the United 

4 States and the European Union in thwarting 

5 Hizballah’s criminal and terrorist activities; 


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•SRES 377 IS 

1 (2) supports transcontinental efforts within Eu2 rope to share intelligence information among police 

3 and security services to facilitate greater cooperation 

4 in tracking, apprehending, and prosecuting terror5 ists, foreign fighters, and potential offenders; 

6 (3) encourages the European Union to imple7 ment sanctions against Hizballah-affiliated terrorists 

8 in tandem with the United States; 

9 (4) recommends greater civil society engage10 ment in both the United States and Europe to un11 derscore Hizballah’s malign regional influence; and 

12 (5) urges the European Union to designate 

13 Hizballah in its entirety as a terrorist organization 

14 and increase pressure on the group, including 

15 through— 

16 (A) facilitating better cross-border coopera17 tion between European Union members in com18 bating Hizballah; 

19 (B) issuing arrest warrants against mem20 bers and active supporters of Hizballah; 

21 (C) freezing Hizballah’s assets in Europe, 

22 including those masquerading as charities; and 

23 (D) prohibiting fundraising activities in 

24 support of Hizballah. 

Æ 


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