Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Crispin Blunt (Conservative). It was answered on Tuesday, 29 November 2005 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Middle East

Question: What distinction does the Foreign Secretary draw between Hezbollah and Hamas?

Answer: As the hon. Gentleman knows, they are two distinct organisations. Hezbollah is partly a terrorist organisation, and it is partly operating within Lebanese law, as a legitimate political party in Lebanon. It has one Minister in the Lebanese Cabinet and another Minister is associated with Hezbollah. In that respect, they are different. In other respects, they are similar: they are rejectionist terrorist organisations and the way in which they operate in the occupied territories and against Israel is very similar. Those who have been the victims of terrorism would not notice the difference if they had been killed or injured as a result of that violence. That is why we call on both those organisations and on Islamic Jihad to stop their terrorist activity. We also call on the state of Syria to take action to prevent those organisations from operating, as they do, in its territory.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 440 c127
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Middle East Peace negotiations Armed conflict Terrorism Israel Hezbollah
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk