(JTA) – Britain will ban completely the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah. Britain’s Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday confirmed the government’s plan to ban all wings of the group, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel. As the Ledger went to press, the British ban was scheduled to go into effect on Friday subject to Parliament’s approval, Reuters reported. Britain has since 2008 banned Hezbollah’s armed wing. This ban would include its political arm as well. “Hezbollah is continuing in its attempts to destabilize the fragile situation in the Middle East – and we are no longer able to distinguish between their already banned military wing and the political party,” Javid said Monday, according to Reuters. The order to be voted on by Parliament will also include bans on the terror groups Ansaroul Islam and JNIM, who operate in the Sahel region in Africa. Being a member of offering support to the groups carries an up-to-10-year prison sentence.

The British Foreign Secretary on Monday said that: “We are staunch supporters of a stable and prosperous Lebanon. We cannot however be complacent when it comes to terrorism – it is clear the distinction between Hezbollah’s military and political wings does not exist, and by proscribing Hezbollah in all its forms, the government is sending a clear signal that its destabilizing activities in the region are totally unacceptable and detrimental to the UK’s national security.” “This does not change our ongoing commitment to Lebanon, with whom we have a broad and strong relationship,” he added.

CAP: Party members carry Hezbollah flags as they stand in front of a replica of the Dome of the Rock during a rally marking Al-Quds day in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon June 23, 2017. Credit: Aziz Taher/Reuters