Hamas slams EU for planning to appeal 'terror list' ruling

Palestinian faction Hamas on Monday criticised a decision by the European Union (EU) to appeal a previous court ruling calling for the removal of the Palestinian group from the bloc’s terror blacklist.

“We strongly condemn and denounce the decision of the EU,” Ibrahim Radwan, a senior Hamas member, told Anadolu Agency.

He said the decision of the EU to challenge the ruling issued by the EU’s General Court was indicative of the “dishonesty” of the bloc.

Earlier in the day, the EU said it would challenge the ruling, which was issued in December last year.

When it issued the ruling, the court said including Hamas in the European terror list was “not based on acts examined and confirmed in decisions of competent authorities, but on factual imputations derived from the press and the Internet.”

Radwan said the EU appeal amounted to “a full bias” towards Israel and the latter’s policies and “crimes” against the Palestinians.

“The EU should rather have acted with integrity and transparency and included Israel in its terrorism list instead,” Radwan said.

In December 2001, the European Council adopted a terrorist list requiring the freezing of the funds of the people and entities listed. Hamas was first included in the list in 2003.