A group of British lawyers has said that Hamas has demanded that the British government lift sanctions on the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The appeal argues that the ban violates the UK’s human rights commitments and that the militants emphasize the “legitimacy of the Palestinian people’s struggle for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation.”
Britain declared Hamas a ‘terrorist group’ in 2001. The United States and the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist group. According to the government website, in 2021, the ban was extended to Hamas’ political party, deeming the group a “complex but singular terrorist organization.”
In the UK, it is a criminal offence to be associated with, encourage, support or otherwise support a banned organisation. The Ministry of Home Affairs has stated that it has not commented on the matter. A London-based company called ‘Riverway Law’ reported that it submitted the information to the UK Home Office on Wednesday.
“The legitimate and moral right to resist foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle, is clearly enshrined in international law,” the statement said. On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants attacked Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,218 people, including Israelis and foreigners living in Israel.
In return, Israel has pledged to defeat Hamas, and the Hamas-led movement has carried out air and ground operations that have killed more than 50,000 people since the start of the war, according to the Health Ministry. According to Riverway Law, senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk gave the directive.
“By imposing sanctions on Hamas, the UK is depriving Hamas of its right to defend itself against attacks on Palestinian territories,” the group said in a statement on social media X, announcing the appeal. The petition argues that the Hamas ban is ‘disproportionate’ because the group ‘poses no threat’ to UK national security.
The application has been sharply criticised by opposition politicians, with Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel condemning the group as a “rogue, Iran-backed terrorist organisation”. “Those campaigning to end Hamas have failed to grasp the seriousness of the threat posed by this terrorist organization,” Patel said in a statement.
