Hamas Group says Britain continues ‘favoring aggressor at the expense of victims’
The Palestinian Hamas resistance movement on Friday decried the British intention to label it as a “terrorist organization.”
In a statement, the group said Britain continues “favoring the (Israeli) aggressor at the expense of the (Palestinian) victims.”
“Resisting the occupation with all possible means, including armed resistance, is a guaranteed right by the international law for the people under occupation,” Hamas statement said.
It added: “The (Israeli) occupation is terrorism. Killing the indigenous people, expelling them by force, demolishing their homes, and detaining them are terrorism.”
The statement urged the international community, including Britain, to stop the “double standards and the grave violation of the international law.”
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel is expected to outlaw Hamas for “links to terrorism and antisemitism against Jewish people.”
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Since 2001, the UK has been calling the Hamas armed wing – Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades – a terrorist organization, but did not include the Hamas political bureau within the designation.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Twitter welcomed the decision by Britain, claiming: “Hamas is a terrorist organization.”
“I welcome the UK’s intention to declare Hamas a terrorist organization in its entirety because that’s exactly what it is,” he added.
It was earlier reported that, Hamas will be banned as a terrorist organisation “in its entirety” in the UK with threats of up to 10 years in prison for those expressing support for the movement, British Home Secretary Priti Patel announced on Friday.
While giving a speech for the right-wing Heritage Foundation think-tank in Washington DC, Patel claimed the move would help tackle antisemitism in the UK and claimed the Palestinian movement had “long been involved in significant terrorist violence”.
“Hamas is fundamentally and rabidly antisemitic,” she told the organisation. “Antisemitism is an enduring evil which I will never tolerate. Jewish people routinely feel unsafe – at school, in the streets, when they worship, in their homes, and online.
She said the move would “strengthen the case against anyone who waves a Hamas flag in the United Kingdom, an act that is bound to make Jewish people feel unsafe.”
“Anyone who supports or invites support for a proscribed organisation is breaking the law,” she added.
“That now includes Hamas.”
