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UK Government Rejects Hamas Appeal for Removal from ‘Terror’ List
By Palestine Chronicle Staff – Gaza
Hamas has said it was “no secret that the British government created the tragedy of the Palestinian people when it uprooted them from their land and handed over their homeland to zionist gangs brought from all over the world.”
The British government has rejected an application by a London-based law firm for the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas to be removed from the list of banned terrorist organizations.
“The government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under regular review. While we do not routinely comment on individual groups proscribed, we can confirm that Harakat al-Muqawamah (Hamas) is still listed as a proscribed organisation,” the UK’s Home Office said in a statement, The Times reported.
The Home Office has dismissed an application by Hamas to be removed from the list of banned terrorist organisations https://t.co/tLXeVxlMjW
— The Times and The Sunday Times (@thetimes) July 10, 2025
In April, the then Riverway Law firm submitted an official appeal to the Secretary of State, Yvette Cooper, for the movement’s removal from the list of proscribed organizations under Section 4 of the Terrorism Act 2000, Hamas said in a statement at the time.
The movement said it “considers this classification, issued in October 2021, an unjust decision that constitutes a blatant bias in favor of the zionist occupation, which continues to commit crimes against our Palestinian people.”
It stated that the classification “disavows human rights and democratic principles, the provisions of international law, and British laws themselves, which guarantee the right of peoples to resist occupation, the right to self-defense, and freedom of opinion and expression.”
Britain ‘Created Tragedy’
Hamas said it was “no secret that the British government created the tragedy of the Palestinian people when it uprooted them from their land and handed over their homeland to zionist gangs brought from all over the world.”
It added: “The British government, through its biased policies, still bears legal and moral responsibility for what our people are suffering from in terms of daily massacres, a stifling siege, and systematic starvation.”
According to the Times, Hamas may appeal to the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission, following the dismissal. “An appeal can only succeed if the commission concludes that the Home Office’s rejection of a deproscription request was flawed on legal grounds,” the report stated.
Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, was proscribed by the UK in 2001, while in 2021, the entire group was proscribed, including its political wing.
Process ‘Undermined’ – CAGE
London-based Human rights group, Cage International, slammed the decision by the Home Office, saying the Home Secretary, “undermined the process from day one, stating that the government maintained its view about the group on day one the application was submitted.”
The group said Cooper has yet to respond to CAGE International’s separate application, arguing that the ban impinges on freedom of speech and expression in Britain.”
BREAKING: The UK Home Office today has refused to deproscribe Hamas despite a 106-page legal application backed by over 20 expert submissions.
The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, undermined the process from day one, stating that the government maintained its view about the… pic.twitter.com/EuCoJCIAiW
— CAGE International (@CAGEintl) July 10, 2025
Cage International said the 106-page legal application was “backed by over 20 3xpert submissions.”
As part of the application, the movement’s Head of the International Relations and Legal Affairs Office, Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk, who commissioned the British legal team, issued a Witness Statement.
“Hamas is not a terrorist group. It is a Palestinian Islamic liberation and resistance movement whose goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project,” Abu Marzouk stated.
Impunity Unleashed: Israel in Palestine and the Collapse of International Order
He added that 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.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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