Lebanon's Jamaa Islamiya in spotlight as US moves to designate Muslim Brotherhood
The Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, is a major Sunni political party in the country. But its armed wing has repeatedly attacked Israel during the war with Hezbollah, putting the group under US scrutiny.
BEIRUT — US President Donald Trump’s executive order to designate certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood in the region as terrorist organizations has put the group’s branch in Lebanon under the spotlight.
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order stipulating that “certain chapters or other subdivisions of the Muslim Brotherhood shall be considered for designation as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.”
“Its chapters in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt engage in or facilitate and support violence and destabilization campaigns that harm their own regions, United States citizens and United States interests,” the order read.
The order referred to the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood’s military wing joining the Palestinian Hamas group and Hezbollah in launching rockets toward Israel in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
