A Hamas fighter inspects a destroyed building in the Gaza Strip (Jully 2017)
Keystone / Mohammed Saber
The security policy commission of the House of Representatives wants Switzerland to ban the Islamist Palestinian organisation Hamas and impose sanctiions on the group.
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The commission has unanimously adopted submitted two corresponding motions, as various media reported on Tuesday.
The motion text leaves open how the Federal Council should implement the Hamas ban. Previous attempts by Swiss parliamentarians to classify Hamas as a terrorist group have failed.
“The massive attacks of Hamas on Israel show that Hamas can only be described as a brutal terrorist organisation,” the commission states in the motion. It urges the Federal Council and parliament to take a clear position and send a signal.
For Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, an approach similar to that taken against Al-Qaeda is conceivable. On Monday, he said the
Federal Council would discuss that option.
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