GENEVA: The Swiss government, which previously drafted a law explicitly banning Hamas activities and support for the Palestinian fighters, decided this week against doing the same for the Lebanese armed group Hizbollah.

Parliamentary security policy committees had called for a ban on Hizbollah, but in its response published Thursday, the federal government said the conditions had not been met.

Switzerland's Federal Council said the group could not be banned as a threat to security under the country's intelligence act because the existing law required sanctions or a ban by the United Nations to be in place in order for such a move to be applied.

It said it banned Hamas over the "unprecedented attacks" of Oct 7, 2023, in line with the practice of proscribing organisations on a case-by-case basis only "for extremely serious reasons."

"Bans on organisations must continue to follow this political line," it said, judging that it was "not appropriate" to create a new law to ban Hizbollah.

The lower house of parliament's security committee had said that "like Hamas, Hizbollah is a radical Islamic organisation responsible for numerous acts of violence and human rights violations" which "represents a threat to the stability of the entire region."

It demanded that the government "issue a comprehensive ban on Hizbollah."

Parliament will consider the government's position during its Dec 2-20 session, and will also vote on the law to ban Hamas, Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS reported.

The draft law provides for a five-year ban on Hamas.

The Swiss government's decision came as a ceasefire in the Israel-Hizbollah war largely held for a second day Thursday.

The truce ended a war that began a day after Hamas's Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel from Gaza, killing thousands in Lebanon and sparking mass displacements in both Lebanon and Israel.

Israel shifted its focus from Gaza to Lebanon in September to secure its northern border from Hizbollah attacks, dealing the Iran-backed Shiite Muslim movement a series of staggering blows.

 -AFP