JERUSALEM, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called on Europe to declare Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization."
The hardliner politician urged a delegation of members of the French parliament to designate the Iran-backed group as a "terrorist organization."
"It is very important that France and the rest of Europe do exactly what Argentina did recently, and that is to declare Hezbollah as a terrorist group," Netanyahu said, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office.
Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of "operating terror on European soil" and in the Middle East.
Hezbollah is a Lebanon-based political party and an armed group. Countries including Israel and the United States have designated it as a terrorist organization, while France and the European Union have blacklisted its military wing as a terror group.
The remarks were made two days after Netanyahu and Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah exchanged verbal threats.
On Friday, Nasrallah warned that the Shiite group is capable of destroying Israel if the latter dares to attack Lebanon. In response, Netanyahu threatened to deal a "crushing blow" to Lebanon and Hezbollah, should Israel be attacked.
Israel and Hezbollah are marking these days the 13th anniversary of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
The 34-day bloody war, fought mostly on Lebanon's land, ended with a fragile truce.
Israel and Hezbollah have not had another war since then but Israel has occasionally carried out airstrikes in Syrian, claiming they target weapons convoys to the Iran-backed militia.
