EU to appeal Hamas terror list removal ruling

Jane Onyanga-Omara | USA TODAY

The Council of the European Union has decided to appeal a top EU court's ruling that the Palestinian group Hamas should be removed from the bloc's list of terror organizations.

In a statement Monday, Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, said the council of ministers will challenge some of the court's findings on procedural grounds, and consider future action to avoid similar annulments.

In last month's ruling, the court found the original move to include the Islamic militant group was based on media reports and not acts confirmed by authorities. It stressed the ruling was a technical move and did not imply Hamas' classification as a terrorist group should be changed.

The court gave the EU two months to appeal the judgment. EU officials are still barred from dealing with Hamas, which runs much of Gaza, and the group's funds in EU countries will remain frozen until a final judgment is made.

"This ruling was clearly based on procedural grounds and did not imply any assessment by the court of the merits of designating the Hamas as a terrorist organization," Mogherini said.

She added: "The fight against terrorism remains a priority for the European Union. In this sense, the EU is determined to stem the financing of terrorism, for which EU autonomous measures are an essential tool."

Hamas was put on the list in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the U.S. and has consistently contested its place there. Countries, including the United States and Israel, have designated the group as a terrorist organization.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said last month that that while it's up to the European Union to decide whether to appeal the ruling, the U.S. continues to consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

Hamas argues it is a popularly elected government and service organization that is struggling for liberation from Israeli oppression. Israel, however, claims the group routinely targets Israeli citizens with rocket attacks. It also charges Hamas uses its own people as "human shields" vulnerable to Israeli retaliatory strikes by firing rockets from schools and populous city areas, a conclusion borne out by at least one United Nations report.

The latest cycle of violence in the region began in June after the killings of three Israeli teens and a Palestinian teen led to a war between Israel and Hamas. Over 2,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 72 Israelis, were killed, according to the United Nations.

Contributing: Oren Dorell; Associated Press