Europe reverses status of Hamas as terrorist organisation

Strains between Israel and parts of Europe intensified on Wednesday when the European Union’s second-highest court reversed the bloc’s designation of the militant Palestinian group Hamas as a terrorist organization, The New York Times reports.

The court’s decision coincided with increasing European impatience with the stalled effort toward peace in the Middle East, which has fed a swell of opinion in favor of recognizing a Palestinian state.

On Wednesday, in a compromise resolution, the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, voted 498 to 88 with 111 abstentions to support “in principle the recognition of Palestinian statehood” in tandem with revived peace negotiations, according to the Parliament’s website.

In Geneva, a Palestinian statement at a conference on the Geneva Conventions accused Israel of flouting international law in many areas. “The prolonged military occupation of Palestine must end as it is the source of the pervasive violations of international humanitarian law in occupied Palestine,” the statement said.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, has been on the European list of terrorist organizations since 2001. It has always objected to the classification.

The General Court of the European Union ruled on Wednesday that Hamas’s status had been determined by news and Internet reports rather than by “acts examined and confirmed in decisions of competent authorities.”

At the same time, though, the judicial body said that European restrictions on Hamas, such as asset freezes, should remain in force for at least three months to give the parties time to appeal.

Decisions by the court may be appealed on points of law to the bloc’s highest judicial body, the Court of Justice. Both bodies are based in Luxembourg.

The developments incensed many Israelis, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for the court to restore the label of terrorist group to Hamas.

“The friendship of the people of the United States of America stands in sharp contrast with what we see unfortunately in Europe,” Netanyahu said as he met in Jerusalem with Joni Ernst, the Republican senator-elect from Iowa. “Today, we witnessed staggering examples of European hypocrisy.”

“In Geneva, they call for the investigation of Israel for war crimes, while in Luxembourg, the European court removed Hamas from the list of terrorist organizations — Hamas that has committed countless war crimes and countless terror acts,” Netanyahu said in remarks released by the Government Press Office.”