Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Swiss government wants to ban Hamas from Switzerland for five years

Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Al Sinwar
Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Al Sinwar. Keystone

The Swiss government has submitted to parliament its proposal to ban Palestinian militant group Hamas from Switzerland for five years. The ban also covers organisations affiliated with the Islamist group.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The proposal includes Hamas cover organisations, those emanating from Hamas, as well as organisations and groups that act on its orders or in its name. In order to be banned, the government will have to demonstrate particular proximity to Hamas.

+ Swiss parties in favour of banning Hamas

The security policy commissions will be consulted. A ban on an organisation or group may be appealed to the Federal Administrative Court.

The government has also decided not to enact a specific penal provision. The Criminal Code already punishes participation in and support of criminal and terrorist organisations. A custodial sentence of up to 20 years or a pecuniary penalty is provided for.

External Content

Translated from French by DeepL/ts

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Coming soon Lost Cells A podcast uncovering the human stories behind private stem cell banking's promises and failures. Get notified

Most Read
Swiss Abroad

Most Discussed

News

Grand Prix Art for art casters, artists and architects

More

Winners of top Swiss art award announced

This content was published on Felix Lehner, Pamela Rosenkranz and Miroslav Sik have been awarded the Swiss Grand Award for Art/Prix Meret Oppenheim 2025.

Read more: Winners of top Swiss art award announced
Watch exports down 2.8% in 2024

More

Swiss watch exports down 2.8% in 2024

This content was published on The watch industry had to contend with a weakening of its exports last year, which reached a volume of CHF25.9 billion ($28.5 billion).

Read more: Swiss watch exports down 2.8% in 2024

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR