Illustration
IllustrationReuters

A senior official at the European Union’s Supreme Court has recommended that the Hamas terror organization be removed from the EU’s official list of banned groups.

The recommendation, made by Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston, which was publicized Thursday afternoon, moves the European Court of Justice closer to dropping the radical Islamic terror group from the EU’s list, with observers noting that the court typically implements such recommendations.

The European high court was called to adjudicate the matter following an appeal against a lower court’s ruling in 2014. The court had held that both Hamas and a Sri Lankan terror group, the Tamil Tigers, were not added to the terror list following proper procedures, and should thus be removed.

The 2014 decision claimed that the sanctions against the two terror groups had been undertaken without proper investigation by the EU’s central government, and had relied largely on media reports.

Sharpston’s recommendation also rejected arguments by the EU government that the sanctions against Hamas and the Tamil Tigers was justified given their inclusion in the American terror list.

Both the US and Israel objected vociferously in 2014 to the lower court ruling. No official response has yet been released by either country to the latest recommendation.