Hamas launches legal case in Britain to remove ‘terror’ label
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Hamas files a legal appeal in the UK to challenge its terrorist designation, asserting its role as a legitimate resistance movement against Israeli occupation and warning the label undermines international law and stifles political discourse.
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Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk, center, in Beirut, Lebanon, in January 2924. (AP)
Filed on Wednesday, the appeal aims to overturn the UK’s classification of Hamas, with the group maintaining it is a legitimate movement focused on Palestinian self-determination and liberation, not a “terrorist entity.” The effort is being led by Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas figure and the head of its international relations.
Marzouk has strongly rejected the UK’s labeling of Hamas as a terrorist group, emphasizing that its aim is to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation, not to target Western countries. He clarified that the group’s struggle is directed against Zionism, which he described as a colonial project imposed on Palestine, and insisted that Hamas has never intended to harm Jewish people.
“We are not fighting against Jews, we are fighting against the Zionist regime, which is an illegitimate entity in Palestine,” he stated.
Marzouk commented on Hamas members and their fellow Gaza-based Resistance fighters’ historic Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against "Israel". He called the development a military operation targeting the Israeli regime’s Southern Command rather than a deliberate assault on civilians as Tel Aviv and its backers had claimed.
The senior Hamas figure also criticized the United Kingdom for its historical and ongoing support of Zionism and the establishment of the Israeli regime in 1948, a move he views as a direct extension of colonial policies in the region.
Marzouk drew parallels between Hamas and other historic liberation movements, such as South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) and Ireland’s Sinn Féin. He argued that, like those groups, Hamas is a legitimate Resistance movement confronting foreign occupation and fighting for national liberation.
Legal argument: Hamas sole force resisting genocide
The case, Harakat Al-Muqawamah Al-Islmiyyah (Hamas) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD), is being led by two British barristers from Riverway Law, a law firm based in South London. They argue that the proscription not only misrepresents the group but also obstructs freedom of speech and stifles open dialogue.
The lawyers also argue that by labeling Hamas as a “terrorist group,” the British government violates international obligations related to the prevention of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Today, our legal team submitted the application to the Home office to remove Hamas from the banned list of organisations under UK Counter terrorism powers
— Riverway Law (@riverwaylaw) April 9, 2025
You can read the full legal application here: https://t.co/Zxov8lhle8 pic.twitter.com/b7N07fuH5X
The documents submitted for the case are in two volumes - Volume 1 as Submissions and Witness Statements, and Volume 2 as Expert Evidence.
They assert that Hamas is the sole effective force resisting the ongoing genocide being committed by the Israeli regime in Gaza.
The British government first proscribed Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, as a “terrorist organization” in 2001. In 2021, the political wing of Hamas was added to the list. The Home Office defended its decision, claiming Hamas operates as a “unified terrorist entity.”
Hamas’ lawyers contest, arguing that the group functions as a broad-based Resistance movement with political and social dimensions.
In his witness statement, Marzouk rejected the legitimacy of the Israeli regime and reaffirmed Hamas’ commitment to the full liberation of Palestine, with the occupied city of al-Quds as its capital, and establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state along its pre-1967 borders, when the regime went on to grab more Palestinian land with more Western support.
UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has 90 days to respond to the case submissions. If the case is rejected, it will proceed to a tribunal for further legal proceedings. If successful, it could lead to a reevaluation of Hamas' designation.
