The Arab League decided to stop referring to Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization," announced Hossam Zaki, the league’s assistant secretary-general, on Saturday.

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“In previous Arab League decisions, Hezbollah was designated as a terrorist organization, and this designation was reflected in the resolutions, leading to the severing of communication-based on these decisions,” Zaki told Al-Qahera News. “The member states of the League agreed that the label of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization should no longer be employed.”

This development comes after the League’s initial designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization on March 11, 2016, a move that had met with reservations from Lebanon and Iraq.

The Arab League's decision followed a similar designation by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on March 2, 2016, which classified Hezbollah as a terrorist group and urged it to cease promoting extremism and sectarianism and meddling in the internal affairs of countries.

This announcement came after Zaki visited Beirut, meeting with Muhammad Raad, the head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, which is affiliated with Hezbollah.

This encounter is the first direct contact between the Arab League and Hezbollah in over a decade.

During his visit, which began on Tuesday, Zaki met with various Lebanese officials and political leaders to discuss ongoing tensions in southern Lebanon amid the “Israeli” war on Gaza and the country’s prolonged presidential vacancy, now in its 19th month.

The discussions aimed at de-escalating the situation in southern Lebanon and finding a resolution to the presidential crisis.