EUROPEAN COURT REMOVES TERRORIST DESIGNATION FOR HAMAS, BUT KEEPS IT IN EFFECT FOR EU APPEAL

The General Court of the European Union has annulled the 2001 terrorist sanction upon Hamas, upon procedural and not substantive grounds, but has kept the sanction in place, to allow the EU to file an appeal. The grounds stated were that the evidence of terrorist status consisted of only media and internet information, which the Court deemed were not competent authorities, but "factual imputations desired from the press and the Internet," according to the official press release analyzing the decision.

The Court stressed that its actions were purely based on what it called "fundamental procedural grounds." and did not "imply any substantive assessment of the question of classification of Hamas as a terrorist group...."

Some sources have stated that the EU countries, which were required to reintroduce evidence every six months on Hamas' terrorist actions, had resorted to filing open-source media documents, rather than disclose classified information. If this was truly the case, it was a colossal error, for now the EU will be required to participate in a formal appeal, which could take years, if prior cases are any indication of the time-frame involved.