UK labels Hamas a 'terrorist organisation' and outlaws the organisation

The United Kingdom joined the United States, Canada and the European Union on Friday in designating Hamas as a "terrorist organisation". This was announced by the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, in an appearance in which she highlighted London's commitment to combating "extremism and terrorism wherever it occurs". The reasons that led Boris Johnson's government to outlaw the organisation.

The current ban only affected the military wing of Hamas, known as the Ezeldin al-Qasam Brigades. Once the law is passed, it will affect the movement as a whole, and membership of the Palestinian organisation and even glorification of the group will be punishable by up to 14 years in prison, in accordance with the British Anti-Terrorism Act. Hamas interprets this measure as a concession to Israel.

Before being implemented, the proposal must receive the approval of both Houses of Parliament. The parliamentary debate will decide next week whether London will finally identify the Islamic Resistance Movement as terrorist. A consideration promoted by the Executive and based on "a wide range of intelligence, information and links with terrorism that speak for themselves". In this sense, Patel expressed his inability to distinguish who is political and who is military within Hamas.

The home secretary said the group has a strong "terrorist capability" and has access to "many sophisticated weapons, facilities and terrorist training facilities". Factors that pose a threat to the security of Israel, London's priority partner in the region, as the Islamic Resistance Movement controls the Gaza Strip and staged an 11-day conflict in May that devastated the area and killed at least 253 people, including 67 children.

Founded in 1987, the organisation controls the enclave militarily and has ruled Gaza for more than a decade, when it defeated rival al-Fatah in parliamentary elections in 2006. Hamas is idiosyncratic in its opposition to the existence of the state of Israel and boycotts peace talks. Its strategy is therefore based on armed struggle against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

The current spokesman for the Islamic Resistance Movement, Sami Abu Zuhri, denounced the British government's decision and underlined its "absolute partiality towards the Israeli occupation and is a submission to blackmail and Israeli dictates". While Patel justified the move as a spearhead against the group's marked anti-Semitic character.

The appearance before the British courts of Feras Al-Jayoosi, a 34-year-old man wearing a T-shirt with symbols of the Ezeldin al-Qasam Brigades and Islamic Jihad, prompted the measure that the Conservative government of Boris Johnson is now trying to implement swiftly. Moreover, al-Jayoosi did so in the vicinity of an urban area in north London that is home to a large number of Jewish citizens.

In terms of British domestic politics, the decision compromises Keir Starmer's Labour Party. The current leader of the opposition will have to adopt a formal position on the group, an internal debate that is dividing the party and which has already affected the former Labour number one Jeremy Corbyn. This is a shot in the arm for the Conservative Party, which has recently been in the eye of the storm due to the outbreak of corruption cases.

Israel's response has been swift. Foreign Minister and incoming Prime Minister Yair Lapid thanked Patel and his British counterpart Liz Truss for the recognition. "This is an important and significant decision that gives the British security forces additional tools to prevent the continued strengthening of the Hamas terrorist organisation, also in the UK," he tweeted.

The head of government, Naftali Bennett, was previously aware of the decision and welcomed the stance taken by the UK government hours before it was announced. "I applaud the UK's intention to declare Hamas a terrorist organisation in its entirety, because that is exactly what it is," Bennett said on Twitter. Ties between London and Israel are strengthened.

Home Secretary Priti Patel resigned in 2017 from her post as head of the Department for International Development after meetings with senior Israeli officials during her holiday in the country came to light. One of the figures she met with was the then opposition leader Yair Lapid.