Politics
Foreign Office officials ‘met Hamas terrorists’ to discuss Gaza funding despite ‘no contact’ policy
The department did not deny the meeting, but said it was involuntary and had no bearing on the group's proscription
September 22, 2025 09:04
The department did not deny the meeting, but said it was involuntary and had no bearing on the group's proscription
September 22, 2025 09:04The Foreign Office has come under scrutiny over an alleged meeting between British diplomats and Hamas terrorists in 2022.
Per the Daily Express, files recovered by the IDF in Gaza showed that a member of staff at the British consulate in Israel "met with Hamas terrorists".
This meeting, the paper alleges, violated the UK's "no contact" policy with regard to terrorist organisations and came after Hamas' proscription had been expanded to include its political wing in 2021.
According to translations of the documents by pro-Israel watchdog group NGO Monitor, the purpose of the meeting was to "reassure Hamas officials that the resolution of the UK to ban Hamas and designate it as a terror group shall not impact the projects funded by the UK government".
Anne Herzberg, legal advisor at NGO Monitor, told the paper: "The UK government has repeatedly said for years that it does not talk to terrorists but now we have the proof from these files found deep inside Gaza that UK diplomatic staff did meet with Hamas officials.
"Alarmingly, it appears that the purpose of this meeting was to reassure Hamas that, despite their designation as a terror organisation, the UK would continue to pump millions of pounds into Gaza.
"We've raised repeated concerns that large sums of UK government and charity money was syphoned off by Hamas terrorists rather than going to help ordinary Palestinians.
"These documents raise a lot of questions about how much engagement the UK government has had with Hamas since 202, and whether these back channels are still going on now.”
In response, the Foreign Office did not deny that the reported discussions took place, but said: "We categorically reject that this was a ‘meeting’ with the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.
"In February 2022, a member of staff was summoned by the Hamas-run police to explain the UK’s work in Gaza.
“Refusal to attend the summons would not have been an option. This incident in no way represents a breach of the UK’s asset freeze against the entirety of Hamas, nor our no-contact policy with the terrorist group.”
The report emerged on the same day that the UK formally confirmed its recognition of a Palestinian state.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the move in a pre-recorded statement posted to social media.
"I state clearly, as prime minister of this great country, that the United Kingdom formally recognises the state of Palestine," he said.
Starmer said his decision was an effort “to keep alive the possibility of peace and a two-state solution, that means a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state”.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey labelled the move a "great step forward", while both the Conservatives and Reform UK said it was a "reward" for Hamas.
Elsewhere, Australia, Canada and Portugal all joined the UK in confirming recognition, prompting backlash from Israel and the US.
France, Malta and several others are expected to follow suit later today, though Germany and Italy have ruled out doing so.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the decision "an immoral, outrageous, and especially ugly action," while a US State Department spokesperson called the move "performative", adding that Washington was focusing on "serious diplomacy".
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