Hamas, the internationally proscribed Islamist terror group, has endorsed Jeremy Corbyn MP in the Labour Party leadership contest.
Ghazi Hamad, Hamas’ deputy foreign minister, told the Telegraph that Corbyn had “very good sympathy and support for the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian struggle”.
Mr Hamad added: “We expect Mr Corbyn and Britain to change the policy and to understand that the struggle of the Palestinian people against the occupation is fair. And that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation. This can prove that he really can be a good friend for the Palestinians”.
Mr Hamad said Hamas expected Mr Corbyn to “move from words to deeds” and claimed that Israel would try to “destroy” the Islington North MP if he became leader.
The senior Hamas official admitted that he had never met Mr Corbyn but was judging him by his speeches and media reports.
A source close to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyah reportedly told the Telegraph that Mr Corbyn was “a man of conscience…a man of justice, who really understands the rights and wrongs”.
The Hamas endorsement follows recent condemnation in the UK of the veteran Labour MP after it emerged he had previously referred Hamas, and Lebanon-based terror group, Hezbollah, as “friends” during meetings in Westminster.
