EU to appeal removal of Hamas from terror list

The EU announced Monday they will appeal a court ruling that the Palestinian movement Hamas be removed from the bloc’s terrorist list.

The EU General Court removed Hamas from the list on 17 December, arguing the movement had been designated as a terrorist group not because of an examination of its actions but on “factual imputations derived from the press and the internet”.

An EU statement on Monday said it considered this ruling as having been made on technical grounds.

“This ruling was clearly based on procedural grounds and did not imply any assessment by the Court of the merits of designating the Hamas as a terrorist organisation,” High Representative Federica Mogherini said in a statement posted online.

“The Council has now decided to challenge some of the findings of the Court regarding the procedural grounds to list terrorist organisations under EU autonomous measures to combat terrorism,” she said.

“As a result of the appeal, the effects of the Judgment are suspended until a final judgment is rendered by the Court of Justice.”

Hamas criticised the EU decision to appeal the court ruling.

"The European Union's insistence on keeping Hamas on the list of terrorist organisations is an immoral step, and reflects the EU's total bias in favour of the Israeli occupation," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP.

"It provides it (Israel) with the cover for its crimes against the Palestinian people," he added.

In 2003, the EU declared the entire group of Hamas – including its social and political branches – as terrorists, after the organisation carried out a string of deadly suicide attacks in Israel.

The court’s December ruling answered a 2010 legal challenge by Hamas that argued the terrorist designation had not followed due process and violated human rights law as the organisation is “a legitimate elected government” in the Palestinian territories.

Hamas won a majority of seats in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, the last to be held in the occupied territories. When a deal for power-sharing between Hamas and Fatah failed to materialise after the election results, fighting broke out between the factions and ultimately saw a split in the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Hamas de facto came to rule the Gaza Strip and Fatah maintained control over the West Bank-based PA. A unity government agreed earlier this year, ending the seven year dispute, has been shaken by renewed infighting between Hamas and Fatah but remains in place for now.

Hamas had praised the court’s ruling December, saying it had corrected a “political mistake”.

“The inclusion of Hamas in the terror list was a big mistake that was unfair for the Palestinian people,” Hamas spokesperson Abu Zuhri told Anadolu Agency. “Hamas is a Palestinian resistance movement and its activity is limited to resisting the [Israeli] occupation, which is a right enshrined in all international laws.”