The designation of Hizbullah, which has not yet been listed on the EU list, and the application of sanctions on the organization and its terrorists, as well as enforcement, are all critical in the efforts to fight the recurrent Hizbullah terrorism on European soil and in preventing additional terrorist attacks.
Yaacoub, who holds dual Lebanese-Swedish citizenship, admitted that he acted on behalf of Hizbullah. Under the direction of a Hizbullah controller, he collected information on the movement of Israeli tourists in Cyprus and on Israeli flights to the island.
According to the judgment, Yaacoub trained in the ranks of Hizbullah in the use of weapons and received operational orders from several Hizbullah terrorists. Yaacoub admitted in his interrogation that Hizbullah is a hierarchical organization, which possesses weapons and trains its terrorists in secret activities of a military nature.
The Court in Cyprus also decided that the activities of Yaacoub in the service of Hizbullah were designed to execute a terrorist attack in the same time period in which a series of terrorist attacks or attempted attacks against Israelis were being carried out around the world by Hizbullah and the al-Quds Forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. One such attack was carried out by Hizbullah in Burgas, Bulgaria by Hizbullah on 18 July 2012 and five Israeli tourists and one Bulgarian citizen were killed.
The Cyprian Court's decision, in conjunction with the results of the
Bulgarian investigation of the Burgas attack, create a clear picture of Hizbullah penetration into European Union states in an attempt to carry out terror attacks against Israeli targets on European soil.