UK judge orders home secretary to explain opposition to Hamas de-proscription appeal

Shabana Mahmood has until 20 May to disclose reasons for opposing Hamas's bid to be removed from terror list

Last April, Mousa Abu Marzouk, the head of Hamas's foreign relations office, instructed British lawyers to appeal against the UK's 2021 decision by former Home Secretary Priti Patel to designate the movement as a terrorist organisation

UK judge orders home secretary to explain opposition to Hamas de-proscription appeal

Hamas, currently proscribed in the UK, is appealing against this designation before the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC), an independent tribunal

Four months later, in August 2025, Hamas lodged a second appeal to POAC after former UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper rejected the group's request to be taken off the list of banned groups

Justice Jonathan Swift, the chair of POAC, told government lawyers to respond to Hamas's appeal and to 'clearly explain any reasons for delay' by 20 May