Hamas Outraged as UK Set to Ban, Declare Them as a Terrorist Organization

Hamas Outraged as UK Set to Ban, Declare Them as a Terrorist Organization

The United Kingdom is set to ban the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in its entirety. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is “seeking to declare the whole of Palestinian militant group Hamas a terrorist organisation,” the BBC reported Friday.

“Hamas has significant terrorist capability, including access to extensive and sophisticated weaponry, as well as terrorist training facilities,” the UK Home Secretary Priti Patel declared in a statement on Friday. “That is why today I have acted to proscribe Hamas in its entirety,” she added.

The move will forbid the Gaza-based terrorist group from operating under the garb of its “political wing” in the UK. “Previously only the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist organisation, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000,” the UK broadcaster Sky News explained.

The ban, which requires approval from the UK parliament, sets a penalty of up to 14 years for those aiding and supporting the Palestinian Islamic terrorist group on British soil.

The London Times reported the implications of the proposed Hamas ban:

Supporters of Hamas will face up to ten years in prison after Priti Patel said that she was proscribing it as a terrorist organisation to fight antisemitism.

Individuals who express support for the Palestinian Islamist group, of which Jeremy Corbyn has previously spoken positively, will be in breach of the Terrorism Act 2000. Support includes flying its flag or arranging to meet its members.

The ban will also cover the wearing of clothing that is seen to support the group, which has controlled Gaza since 2007.

The UK ban could mean be a big blow to Hamas’s terrorism financing activities. The jihadi terror group “carries out significant fundraising there,” The Times of Israel reported citing Israeli TV reports.

Hamas was outraged at the British announcement, calling it “a new crime committed by Britain against our Palestinian people.” London should instead be “apologizing and correcting its historical sins towards the Palestinian people,” the terrorist group demanded.

The Israeli government welcomed the blanket ban on Hamas, which finally brought the British laws in line with the U.S. and the EU provisions.

The Times of Israel reported the Israeli reaction to the proposed move:

Israel on Friday praised the United Kingdom’s planned move to designate the entirety of Hamas as a terror organization and outlaw support for the group.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid thanked UK Home Secretary Priti Patel after she announced Friday that the British government intends to eliminate the distinction between the group’s political and military wings.

“This is an important and significant decision that gives British security bodies additional tools to prevent the continued buildup of the Hamas terror organization, including in Britain,” Lapid said.

“There is no legitimate part to a terror organization and any attempt to separate parts of a terror organization is artificial,” the foreign minister added.

The decision was also cheered by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

Hamas, an offshoot of Egypt’s jihadi Muslim Brotherhood movement, was created in 1987 to destroy the state of Israel. “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it,” Hamas’s guiding document, the Covenant, declares. The terror group describes itself as the “distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.”

Since its formation, Hamas has carried out a wave of deadly terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. In 2007, the jihadi group took control of Gaza and used the territory to stage relentless terrorist attacks and fire thousands of rockets into Israel.

With its growing Muslim population, Britain has seen a rise in support for Hamas and other Islamic terrorist groups. In recent years, the country’s left-wing opposition Labour Party has become a platform for Palestinian activism.

The former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn once called Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups “friends.” He was also caught placing a wreath in 2014 at the graves of Palestinian terrorists who had killed eleven Israeli team members at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

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