Hamas files new appeal against UK 'terrorist' designation

The Palestinian group Hamas has filed an appeal against the British government’s refusal to remove it from the list of banned terrorist organisations.

In a statement shared with The New Arab, Riverway to the Sea Law, which is representing Hamas, said the case would argue that the Home Office’s decision was "biased, legally flawed and politically motivated".

This follows an earlier appeal lodged in April that was rejected by the UK government.

The law firm said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had branded Hamas "barbaric" without considering "over 700 pages of detailed evidence, witness statements, and expert reports". It added that Hamas poses no threat to UK security and operates only within the historic borders of Palestine.

The appeal will also reference a UK parliamentary briefing paper noting that Hamas has "not directly attacked UK or Western interests".

It will argue that the UK's justification of the ban as part of its support for "non-violence" in Palestine is "perverse", given Britain’s longstanding political and military backing of Israel, which continues its genocidal war on Gaza.

Frank Magennis, one of the barristers representing Hamas pro bono, said: "The decision to ban Hamas is part of the logic justifying Israel's ongoing genocide. For Yvette Cooper to have cited Britain’s supposed opposition to violence in the region is an insult to everyone’s intelligence, and to people in Gaza in particular. Palestinians are human, and they feel terror when Britain backs Israel’s genocide."

In response to the earlier appeal, Cooper told LBC radio: "Hamas is a terrorist organisation. It was a barbaric terrorist attack on October 7… We maintain our view about the barbaric nature of this organisation."

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 62,000 people since 7 October 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that killed around 1,139 civilians and soldiers and saw 254 taken captive. Around 50 captives are believed to remain in Gaza, with only about 23 thought to still be alive.

While the UK has condemned some Israeli actions in Gaza and signalled it could recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, it continues to export arms to Israel, carry out drone flights over Gaza, and share intelligence with the Israeli military.

The UK first banned Hamas’s military wing in 2001 and extended the proscription to cover all branches in 2021. It is a criminal offence to be a member of Hamas, display its symbols, or express support for it. Since the Terrorism Act was passed in 2000, only four organisations have ever been removed from Britain’s proscribed list.

In July 2024, the UK also proscribed Palestine Action, a non-violent direct action group, as a terrorist organisation after activists broke into an airbase and sprayed red paint over military aircraft.