LONDON: UK-based lawyers said they have asked the British government to lift a ban on the Palestinian militant group Hamas, a petition that has drawn sharp criticism from opposition politicians.
The legal submission argues the ban contravenes Britain's human rights commitments, with the militants insisting on "the legitimacy of the struggle of the Palestinian people for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation."
The military wing of Hamas was designated a "terrorist group" by the UK in 2001. The United States and the European Union consider Hamas a terror group.
Hamas's proscription was extended in 2021 to include the political wing, with the group considered a "complex but single terrorist organisation", according to the government website.
In the UK, belonging to, encouraging and expressing support for a proscribed organisation, among other acts, are criminal offences.
The Home Office said it did not comment on proscription matters.
The submission to the UK interior ministry was announced by London-based firm Riverway Law on Wednesday.
It added the right to resist "foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle, is moral, legitimate and explicitly enshrined in international law."
Hamas militants stormed over Israel's border with the Gaza Strip to carry out the October 7, 2023 attack against Israel in which 1,218 people were killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to crush Hamas and has relentlessly bombarded Gaza, with the death toll since the start of the war now at more than 50,000 people, mostly civilians, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
Riverway Law said it was instructed by Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official.
By banning Hamas "Britain is effectively denying the Palestinians the right to defend themselves", the lawyers said in a statement on X.
The submission argues that the proscription of Hamas is "disproportionate" because the group "does not pose any threat" to Britain's national security.
The plea says the ban goes against Britain's human rights duties, including under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) -- which has become a target of UK's political right since Britain left the European Union in 2020.
The application has drawn sharp criticism from opposition politicians, with shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel slamming the group as a "evil, Iranian-backed terrorist organisation".
"Those campaigning to end the proscription of Hamas fail to understanding the seriousness of the threats this terrorist organisation poses", Patel said in a statement.