- Hamas is concerned that Britain intends to damage the movement’s financial system in London. Much of the funds flow into the pockets of senior Hamas figures.
- The British declaration helps Israel’s political and public relations struggle around the world to expose the true face of Hamas and justify the war against its terrorist attacks.
- The Hamas movement controls the lives of more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who have been told their governing body is a terrorist organization.
- According to the new law, Hamas supporters in Britain can expect punishments of up to 14 years in prison.
Britain’s officially labeling of Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organization came very late, but it is “better late than never.” It is a very encouraging step. The British decision is based on considerable material from both the British and Israeli intelligence communities. The UK has joined countries such as the United States, Canada, the EU, Australia, and New Zealand that have already declared Hamas a terrorist organization.
The British move also came after Israel decreed six illegal Palestinian organizations claiming to be non-government civilian organizations but actually belonged to the PFLP terrorist organization. The PFLP officially belongs to the PLO, but it advocates the destruction of Israel and has close ties to Hamas.
In November 2021, the Hamas leadership in Gaza held a special meeting with the leadership of the PFLP in the Gaza Strip to increase cooperation between the two organizations.
This is of great concern to the media in the Arab world because London is the global fundraising center for the Muslim Brotherhood and the Hamas movement. They transfer funds to the Gaza Strip to finance the terrorist activities of Hamas’ military-terrorist wing. At the same time, the accounts provide funds for private investments by Hamas leaders abroad.
According to the Saudi publication AlArabia.net in a November 28 report, the Hamas movement’s investments in Britain until 2020 amounted to one billion dollars. It should be noted that Hamas is considered a terrorist organization in Saudi Arabia, Saudi intelligence services watch Hamas’ activities in the Middle East closely. Last year, dozens of Hamas operatives were arrested in the Kingdom for smuggling and money laundering.
Sources in the Gaza Strip said that the son of Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, left Gaza to join the sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in investing money abroad. Senior Hamas figures are investing billions of dollars in various countries worldwide, and much of the funds go through London, along with funds from the Muslim Brotherhood. Two months ago, Sudan revealed the sum of investments by senior Hamas figures in the country had reached $1.2 billion.
According to sources in the Gaza Strip, several hundred Hamas operatives work in three “humanitarian” fundraising associations in London. The money does not reach Gaza residents and flows directly into the pockets of Hamas leaders. Money is deposited in the HSBC Bank in Britain or Turkish banks, per Muslim Brotherhood instructions. Sixty charitable associations were established in the UK alone for the Hamas fundraising. One organization the Islamic Aid Organization also received funding from the British government.
The British decree froze or confiscated much of the funds of Hamas’ massive enterprise.
Hamas Refuses to Change
The Hamas movement’s outrage over the British decision is pronounced. A few days ago marked the anniversary of the historic Balfour Declaration in 1917, a historic victory for the Zionist movement. In recent months, the Palestinians pressed their demand that Britain apologize for the Balfour Declaration and recognize an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 lines. The British answer came relatively quickly: declaring Hamas a terrorist organization and blaming the movement for antisemitism and threatening the lives of Jews in Britain.
Hamas is not the Palestine Liberation Organization that was declared a terrorist organization in the 1970s by the United States and most European countries. Nevertheless, the PLO was allowed to open missions in several countries and conducted secret negotiations with Israel in Oslo in 1993, officially recognized Israel, ostensibly canceled the Palestinian Covenant at a ceremony in the Gaza Strip attended by U.S. President Bill Clinton, and opened diplomatic talks with Israel.
The PLO was coerced to renounce the principle of “armed struggle,” the second intifada, which Yasser Arafat unleashed in 2000, costing the Palestinians dearly. The current PLO Chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, has learned his lessons and advocates political negotiations. He also maintains close security cooperation with Israel.
On the other hand, the Hamas movement continues to advocate the destruction of Israel. The 1988 Hamas Covenant, replete with antisemitic clauses, is still in force. The organization supports the destruction of Israel and the establishment of Palestine “from the river to the sea,” and its leaders have formally adopted the path of terrorism that they codenamed “resistance.” It has established a large independent terrorist entity all over the entire Gaza Strip equipped with thousands of rockets aimed at Israel, and with Iranian aid, seeks to spread it to the West Bank.
The Benefits of the Decision to Israel
This decision by the British government helps the political and public relations struggle of the State of Israel. It is hoped that Israel will know how to leverage the British action for these tasks, which could influence other countries to follow in the footsteps of the United Kingdom. It also encourages Arab countries, which oppose the Hamas movement and the Muslim Brotherhood, to follow in Britain’s footsteps and even normalize relations with Israel.
The British decision will also help Israel fight legal battles against Palestinian referrals to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which claim Israel is committing “crimes and terrorism” in the territories.
There is another important implication of the British declaration of Hamas as a terrorist organization: it gives moral and security justification to Israel to launch a major military operation in the Gaza Strip to protect itself from Hamas rocket attacks. The British declaration helps prepare international public opinion that Israel is fighting against a terrorist movement that controls the Gaza Strip and uses it as a base for attacks on Israeli civilians.
The British decision may embarrass Egypt, which is now trying to achieve long-term understandings of calm between Hamas and Israel, and also makes it difficult for the PA chairman to go into a political partnership with the Hamas movement without changing its positions. The Biden administration is also being reminded by Britain that Hamas is an extreme Islamic terrorist organization that is unwilling to moderate, recognize Israel, and abandon the path of terrorism.
Today, when Hamas’ influence on the Palestinian street has increased following Operation Guardian of the Walls, it is essential that the residents of the territories know what a country like Britain thinks of the Hamas movement and that the world does not accept the path of terrorism, the idea of destroying the State of Israel, and harming Jews living abroad.
The Palestinians will eventually have to decide which strategy they choose: an approach to peace negotiations, however long and difficult it may be, or terrorism and a violent struggle against Israel. As things seem at the moment, the future does not bode well.
