Hamas files a legal request to be removed from the UK’s list of terrorist groups, asserting it is a legitimate “resistance movement”.
Hamas, the terrorist organization responsible for the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, has initiated legal proceedings aimed at reversing its designation as a terrorist organization by the United Kingdom, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
The motion was filed with the UK Home Office, with senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouq submitting a detailed witness statement challenging the current proscription, according to the report.
In the statement, published by Drop Site News, Abu Marzouq claims, “The British government’s decision to proscribe Hamas is an unjust one that is symptomatic of its unwavering support for Zionism, apartheid, occupation and ethnic cleansing in Palestine for over a century. Hamas does not and never has posed a threat to Britain, despite the latter’s ongoing complicity in the genocide of our people.”
Hamas asserts it is not a terrorist group but rather a “Palestinian Islamic liberation and resistance movement whose goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project.”
The UK Home Office, maintaining its longstanding policy, declined to comment on the ongoing legal matter.
The UK’s proscription of Hamas began in 2001 with its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. In 2021, the designation was expanded to include its political arm, with then-Home Secretary Priti Patel describing the separation of wings as “a false distinction,” asserting that Hamas operates as a single, unified terrorist entity.
Under UK law, inclusion on the list of banned terrorist organizations renders it a criminal offense to be a member, express support, or publicly display symbols associated with the group.
Hamas’s legal brief also alleges that the UK’s approach to enforcement has stifled public discourse.
“Rather than allow freedom of speech, police have embarked on a campaign of political intimidation and persecution of journalists, academics, peace activists and students over their perceived support for Hamas,” their lawyers said. “People in Britain must be free to speak about Hamas and its struggle to restore to the Palestinian people the right to self-determination.”
The filing also argues that the proscription contradicts the UK’s obligations under international law, including the duty to prevent genocide and end what it terms Israel’s “illegal occupation” of Palestinian territories. It calls Hamas “the only effective military force resisting” such actions.
Responding to the legal move, UK Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel reaffirmed her stance, saying, “Hamas is an evil Iranian-backed terrorist organisation, which kidnaps, tortures and murders people, including British nationals. They pose an ongoing threat to our security and to the peace and stability of the Middle East… They show no respect for human rights, life and dignity and have oppressed people living in Gaza for too long.”
