Hamas is not a ‘terrorist group’, says EU

An EU court has removed the Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas from the bloc's list of terrorist organizations.

Hamas had been included in that list in 2001, but, according to the court, that decision was based not “on acts examined and confirmed in decisions of competent authorities” but “on factual imputations derived from the press and the internet".

In its ruling, however, the tribunal decided that EU member states could keep Hamas' assets frozen for three months, to give time for further review or for an appeal.

The court said the move was technical and based on procedural grounds, and did not imply the “question of the classification of Hamas as a terror group".

Hamas rules Gaza today, and it is a terrorist group in the United States, Israel, Japan, Canada and Australia. The EU included Hamas on its terror list in late 2001.

ITS OBJECTIVE: AN ISLAMIC STATE IN PALESTINE

According to its charter, Hamas's objective is to create an Islamic state in Palestine that includes Israel, West Bank and Gaza, with Jerusalem as its capital.

The EU defines groups on its blacklist as having committed a series of serious crimes, such as kidnapping or murder, for the purpose of damaging a country by intimidating the population and "destabilizing or destroying its fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures."