US welcomes European Court decision on retaining Hamas as terrorist organization

WASHINGTON, July 27 (KUNA) -- The US welcomed Thursday European Court of Justice decision to retain the European Union's proscription of Hamas as a terrorist organization.
The State Department said in a statement that "Hamas, a US Department of State-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), remains engaged in terrorist activity." It stressed that Hamas's election of Yehya Sinwar as their political leader in Gaza earlier this year "illustrates that the organization remains a terrorist threat." "Sinwar is a hardline military commander" who was designated by the State Department as an SDGT in 2015, the statement noted. (end) si