Germany's Bundestag lower house of parliament passed a law on Friday outlawing symbols of groups designated as terrorist organizations by the EU, including Hamas, in a move that could be a prelude to banning the movement in the country.
Hamas' military wing was added to the European Union's first-ever terrorism blacklist drawn up in December 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States.
The new law, approved Friday, must still be given the green light by the Bundesrat upper house.
The move comes after several violent pro-Palestinian rallies in Germany during the escalation of the Middle East conflict in May.
Germany saw several demonstrations during 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas, with protesters shouting anti-Semitic slogans and burning Israeli flags.
The rallies angered the Jewish community in Germany, prompting the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party of Chancellor Angela Merkel to act in Parliament to ban the Hamas symbols.
The center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) raised constitutional concerns about the proposal but later backed the initiative.
Germany does not directly communicate with Hamas.
When German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas visited Israel in May during the military operation on Gaza, he did not meet with Hamas officials. And when Merkel called for the need to stop the fighting in the Palestinian enclave, she spoke about “indirect talks” with Hamas.
The move to ban Hamas from raising its flags and symbols in the country could be a prelude to blacklisting the movement in the coming months.
