Police in New South Wales, Australia, charged a 19-year-old woman with waving a Hezbollah flag, a “prohibited” terror organization symbol, at a Sydney demonstration.
The woman turned herself in at Kogarah Police Station on Wednesday, after authorities released images of her and appealed for her to come forward. She is scheduled to appear before a judge on Oct. 23, per The Australian.
The woman’s arrest was part of Operation Shelter, which was set up last year to monitor anti-Israel protests. Victoria police said they contacted federal police with information about rallies with prohibited symbols.
In addition to the Hezbollah banner, Hamas flags and posters of Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah whom Israel assassinated on Sept. 26, were reportedly on display at anti-Israel protests last week in Sydney and Melbourne.
Two anti-Israel rallies are scheduled for Oct. 6 and Oct. 7, the one-year-anniversary of Hamas’s murderous onslaught against Israel.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that those or similar protests would be “incredibly provocative.”
Albanese told the Australian news station ABC that such rallies “would not advance any cause. It would cause a great deal of distress.” New South Wales police told The Guardian that it was “not satisfied the protests could proceed safely.”
Last month, Australia’s government introduced stricter legislation to combat hate crimes amid an increase in antisemitic incidents following Oct. 7.
In December, the federal Parliament expanded the country’s counterterrorism laws by prohibiting the public display of hate symbols. The amendment did not name Hamas and Hezbollah but established a new offense, punishable by up to a year in prison, for knowingly displaying symbols linked to terrorist organizations.
