In an unprecedented move, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas is challenging the British government’s terrorist designation.

Senior Hamas member Mousa Abu Marzouk is spearheading the appeal, affirming that Hamas is a legitimate movement advocating for Palestinian self-determination and liberation.

He denounced the UK’s rendering of support for Zionism and the establishment of the Israeli settler colonial entity in 1948. Abu Marzouk drew comparisons to global liberation struggles and likened Hamas to the ANC and Ireland’s Sinn Féin, stressing that like these movements, Hamas represents a legitimate resistance force against foreign occupation.

London first declared the military wing of Hamas – the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, as a “terrorist organisation” in 2001.

In 2021, the UK added Hamas, which is the political wing, to the list and further alleged that it operated as a “unified terrorist entity.”