Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, Jun 01, 2025

Australia says it will list Hamas as ‘terrorist’ group

Australia says it will list Hamas as ‘terrorist’ group

Designation in April will place restrictions on financing or providing support to the Palestinian movement, with some offences carrying 25-year prison sentence.

The Australian government has said it planned to list the whole of the Palestinian movement Hamas to its list of outlawed “terrorist” organisations.

In response, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told Al Jazeera the movement strongly condemned Australia’s decision on Thursday, saying the move pointed to clear bias towards Israel. He added that the planned listing contravenes international laws that protect Palestinians’ right to resist Israeli occupation.

“Hamas is a national liberation movement that resists the occupation in accordance with international laws and resolutions and humanitarian agreements,” he said.

“Those who should be classified as terrorists are the Israeli occupation who deliberately target Palestinians and violate international and humanitarian laws and covenants,” Qassem said.

Australia had previously listed Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades military wing as a “terror” group in 2003, but the new designation which will come into force in April, will list the organisation in its entirety, including its political wing.

Hamas has been running the besieged Gaza Strip since 2007 and has fought successive wars with Israel since then. The latest 11-day Israeli assault on Gaza in May last year killed at least 248 Palestinians, including 66 children, and wounded more than 1,900 others. Rocket fire from Gaza also killed at least 12 people in Israel, including two children.

“The views of Hamas and the violent extremist groups listed today are deeply disturbing, and there is no place in Australia for their hateful ideologies,” said Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews.

The designation will place restrictions on financing or providing other support to Hamas – with certain offences carrying a 25-year prison sentence.

“It is vital that our laws target not only terrorist acts and terrorists, but also the organisations that plan, finance and carry out these acts,” Andrews said.

But the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, a national coalition of Australians who support Palestinian rights, disagreed with the designation, saying it does nothing to advance the cause of peace and will only create more suffering for the two million people currently living under the 15-year Israeli blockade.

“The government has failed in its duty of searching for a peaceful solution and has shown it applies one set of rules to Palestine and another to Israel,” Network President Bishop George Browning said.


Israel welcomes move


Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett welcomed the Australian move, tweeting that it marked “another important step in the global fight against terrorism”.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also thanked Australian Ambassador to Israel Paul Griffiths for what he described as a “significant step” in Israel’s international effort to curtail terrorist organisations.

Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler said the Hamas listing made clear Australia’s “absolute rejection of hatred and terrorism”.

“There is absolutely no doubt that Hamas in its entirety meets the definition of terrorist organization,” Leibler said in a statement, adding that the decision aligns Australia with the United States, European Union, Britain and Canada.

The United States and Canada have long designated Hamas a terror group. A similar European Union decision had been the subject of a protracted court battle, that eventually resulted in Hamas being returned to the terror list.

In November last year, Britain banned the group as a terrorist organisation, after Home Secretary Priti Patel pushed for the move, arguing that it was not possible to distinguish between Hamas’s political and military wings.

Following the UK’s move, Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said the decision was not going to improve a climate of peace.

“There is a degree of gesture politics going on, whereby the UK government is trying to look tough on terrorism and anti-Semitism, but the reality is that this will not have much meaningful impact on the ground where it really matters,” Doyle told Al Jazeera at the time.

“I don’t think you are going to see any stemming of violence at all as a result of this, nor will it impact the fighting against anti-Semitism because those who hold anti-Jewish views and spout it out are going to do so regardless,” he said.

Al Jazeera’s Maram Humaid contributed reporting from Gaza


Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
European and Arab Ministers Convene in Madrid to Address Gaza Conflict
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
UAE Offers Free ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions to Citizens
Lebanon Initiates Plan to Disarm Palestinian Factions
Iran and U.S. Make Limited Progress in Nuclear Talks
The Daily Debate: The Fall of the Dollar — Strategic Reset or Economic Self-Destruction?
Trump Administration's Tariff Policies and Dollar Strategy Spark Global Economic Debate
OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive’s Startup for $6.5 Billion to Build a Revolutionary “Third Core Device”
Turkey Weighs Citizens in Public as Erdoğan Launches National Slimming Campaign
Saudi-Spanish Business Forum Commences in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia and Spain Sign MoU to Boost SME Sectors
UK Suspends Trade Talks with Israel Amid Gaza Offensive
Iran and U.S. Set for Fifth Round of Nuclear Talks Amid Rising Tensions
Russia Expands Military Presence Near Finland Amid Rising Tensions
Indian Scholar Arrested in Crackdown Over Pakistan Conflict Commentary
Israel Eases Gaza Blockade Amid Internal Dispute Over Military Strategy
President Biden’s announcement of advanced prostate cancer sparked public sympathy—but behind closed doors, Democrats are in panic
A Chinese company made solar tiles that look way nicer than regular panels!
Indian jet shootdown: the all-robot legion behind China’s PL-15E missiles
The Chinese Dragon: The True Winner in the India-Pakistan Clash
Australia's Venomous Creatures Contribute to Life-Saving Antivenom Programme
The Spanish Were Right: Long Working Hours Harm Brain Function
Did Former FBI Director Call for Violence Against Trump? Instagram Post Sparks Uproar
US and UAE Partner to Develop Massive AI Data Center Complex
Apple's $95 Million Siri Settlement: Eligible Users Have Until July 2 to File Claims
US and UAE Reach Preliminary Agreement on Nvidia AI Chip Imports
President Trump and Elon Musk Welcomed by Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim with Cybertruck Convoy
Strong Warning Issued: Do Not Use General Chatbots for Medical, Legal, or Educational Guidance
Saudi Arabia Emerges as Global Tech Magnet with U.S. Backing and Trump’s Visit
This was President's departure from Saudi Arabia. The Crown Prince personally escorted him back to the airport.
NVIDIA and Saudi Arabia Launch Strategic Partnership to Establish AI Centers
Trump Meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara in Historic Encounter
Trump takes a blow torch to the neocons and interventionists while speaking to the Saudis
US and Saudi Arabia Sign Landmark Agreements Across Multiple Sectors
Why Saudi Arabia Rolled Out a Purple Carpet for Donald Trump Instead of Red
Elon Musk Joins Trump Meeting in Saudi Arabia
Trump says it would be 'stupid' not to accept gift of Qatari plane
Quantum Computing Threatens Bitcoin Security
Michael Jordan to Serve as Analyst for NBA Games
×