What now after Argentina classifies Hamas as a terrorist organisation?

Argentinian President Javier Milei announced last Friday that his country was designating the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, as a terrorist organisation. Argentina thus became the first state in Latin America to do so, going against the regional grain, where states with left-wing governments — among them Colombia, Chile, and Bolivia — have severed ties with Israel because of its military offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza.

“The Hamas group has been declared by the Argentine state as an international terrorist organisation,” said the Argentinian President’s Office. “In addition, in recent years, its link with the Islamic Republic of Iran has been revealed, whose leadership was found responsible for the attacks against the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires and against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association, by the Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation on 11 April. These attacks cost the lives of more than 100 Argentine civilians.”

The announcement was made just days before the 30th anniversary of one of those attacks, the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and wounded hundreds. The other attack, against the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992, left more than 20 dead.

The Argentina government “has reiterated on multiple occasions its conviction that Argentina once again aligns itself with Western civilisation [and] its respect for individual rights and institutions. For this reason, it is inadmissible that those who attack against them are not declared what they are: terrorists.” A freeze was imposed on the financial assets of the Palestinian group.

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Israeli President Isaac Herzog thanked Milei for the designation of Hamas. “The decision represents a moral clarity and leadership, and it is an example to all countries in South America and around the world that have not yet made clear their condemnation of the brutal and cruel terror of Hamas which continues to attack Israel and hold 120 of our sons and daughters hostage,” said Herzog on X. “Thank you, Argentina, thank you, Mr. President. You are a true friend of Israel.”

Hamas responded to Argentina’s decision by calling it an example of “clear bias” on the part of Milei.

This is a clear attempt to justify the genocide and ethnic cleansing that is committed by neo-Nazis against children and women in the Gaza Strip.

The movement called on the Argentine government to retract the designation and refrain from aligning itself with the narrative of the “criminal” Zionist occupation. “Argentina should stand on the side of the logic of justice and the right of peoples to freedom and self-determination,” insisted Hamas, which has been backed in its call by at least one activist on social media.

The bombings which targeted Argentina’s Jewish community in the 1990s have returned to haunt Arab and Muslim communities in South America. However, a new investigation by the Israeli Mossad spy agency accuses Lebanon’s Hezbollah of being responsible. The Mossad report rejects suspicions that Argentinians were complicit or Iranian officials in Buenos Aires were involved. Although the governments of Argentina, Israel and the United States have long accused Iran of having an operational role in the Argentina bombings, “The Mossad inquiry found that Iran had not been involved in carrying out the attacks or in providing assistance,” said the New York Times.

According to Latin American experts, the reopening of the bombing file is once again related to some plans of the US and Israeli intelligence agencies to tighten the screws on Arab and Muslim communities in Latin America and pursue some of their prominent personalities. This is despite the fact that, over many years, investigations and international intelligence agencies have not been able to prove that there was a Lebanese Hezbollah presence in Argentina or Latin America in general during the 1990s.

It is pertinent to ask, therefore, why Argentina has raised the issue 30 years down the line.

Milei´s designation of Hamas as a terrorist group is obviously a move to strengthen Argentina’s ties with Israel and the US. From the very beginning of his presidency in December, Israel viewed Milei as a new ally and the catalyst for a new chapter in relations with Argentina. He has stressed on several occasions that his main international alignments are with the US and Israel, even as condemnation has been widespread of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, aided and abetted — and funded — by Washington.

So, what now after Argentina has classified Hamas as a “terrorist” organisation? Most Latin American countries have demonstrated support for Palestine and distanced themselves from the occupation state of Israel during its genocidal offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza. Even in Argentina, solidarity with legitimate Palestinian resistance is fast becoming a regular feature of daily life with the naming of streets and public squares, Palestine-themed murals and protest marches. President Milei seems, therefore, to have taken a step that is not only out of line with most of Latin America, but also his own people, who are possibly already regretting electing him in the first place.