The Minister for the Middle East, Rt. Hon. James Cleverly MP, has called on the Hamas terror group to “end permanently their incitement and indiscriminate attacks against Israel” and underlined that the UK is “committed to tackling terrorism in all its forms”.
Minister Cleverly’s remarks came in response to a letter from CFI Vice-Chairman Rt. Hon. Theresa Villiers MP, who last month condemned Turkey’s support for the Hamas terror group, stating that reports that Hamas operatives have received Turkish passports “mark a disturbing shift from Turkey’s acquiescence of Hamas activities to the direct provision of support to militants”.
The former Cabinet Minister highlighted “troubling reports” that Hamas has been “conducting cyberwarfare and other activities from a secret headquarters in Istanbul for two years”, in a letter to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
From this base, “senior Hamas members have apparently purchased dual-use equipment for the manufacture of weaponry, coordinated cyber-operations and overseen surveillance of Hamas militants suspected of dissent”, the MP for Chipping Barnet wrote.
“Given that Hamas members could be using pseudonyms, I hope the UK authorities will seek to obtain these individuals’ passport information from the Turkish authorities, in order to ensure that their movements can be closely monitored and that border check processes are not undermined”, the Conservative MP added.
Mrs Villiers urged the UK to consider proscribing the Hamas terror group in full: “Given that the UK Treasury lists the full group as being subject to UK Terrorism and Terrorist Financing sanctions, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has a ‘policy of non-engagement with Hamas in its entirety’, I believe there is a strong case to proscribe all parts of the Hamas organisation”.
The Middle East Minister said that the UK is “aware of reports about the granting of Turkish citizenship to Hamas figures”, adding that “Hamas continues to pose a threat to Israel and Israeli civilians”.
“The UK is clear that Hamas’ failure to renounce violence and recognise Israel remains a significant barrier to peace”, he said.
