Honduras designates Hezbollah as terrorist organization

Honduras has announced that it is officially designating Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

“Honduras joins Guatemala and other countries in announcing that Hezbollah will be declared an international terrorist organization nationwide,” the office of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández said in a statement.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the decision on Tuesday, saying, “I applaud the Honduran government for its important decision to declare Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and to take the necessary sanctions against it.

“This is an important step in the worldwide war against terrorism,” Katz said, before stating that Israel is in talks with countries such as Germany, Australia and Brazil over also making such declarations. Katz added that he hoped such countries, “will act similarly and join the effort against the terrorism led by Iran and its proxies in the Middle East and throughout the world.”

Honduras has warm relations with Israel, recently opening a trade office in Jerusalem after a visit by President Hernández and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The Central American nation is also said to be planning to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in a move similar to that taken by Guatemala in 2018.

Hezbollah has been designated a terror organization by several countries, including the US, the UK, Canada and Israel, as well as Honduras’ Latin American neighbors Argentina, Paraguay and Guatemala.

The group is believed to be very active in the porous tri-border area in South America where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet, and where funds for its operations are raised. The US has urged all of its Latin American allies to declare the group a terror organization in order to significantly impact Hezbollah’s financing from foreign sources.

Herb Keinon contributed to this report.