Hamas condemns Australia's decision to blacklist Palestinian resistance movement

“The planned move attests to the biased support for the occupying regime, and emboldens Israel to press ahead with its aggression against Palestinian people,” Qassem said.

He added, “Australia's step is in contravention of all international principles and charters, which demand protection of the rights of Palestinians in the face of occupiers. Hamas is a national liberation movement that is fighting the occupier [Israel] in accordance with international law.”

Australia said Thursday it would list the whole of Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas as a terrorist organisation, the latest Western nation to do so.

On Australia's designation of Hamas as a 'terrorist organization', the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas stated the following:

Australia's designation of the Hamas movement as a "terrorist organization" is biased to the occupation and violates the peoples' right to self-determination, and resisting the occupation.

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) deplores the Australian government’s decision to label Hamas as a “terrorist” organization, as stated by the Minister of Home Affairs, Karen Andrews.

While we reject this designation, we consider it biased to the Israeli occupation at the expense of the Palestinian rights and just cause.

Australia's designation holds it legal and moral responsibility for its double standards that reinforce and support a racist occupation that commits the most heinous crimes of murder and desecrates the sanctity of Islamic and Christian sites.

The Australian government's label contradicts international law which guarantees the right of peoples to resist the occupier and ignores the oppressive practices of the occupation against the Palestinian people as documented by international human rights reports, the latest of which is the Amnesty International report, which called for accountability for the crime of apartheid against Palestinians.

We call on the Australian government to backtrack this decision that harms its reputation of respecting human rights and recognition of international laws and norms.

Hamas is a national liberation movement elected by the Palestinian people in democratic elections, and it will continue defending their rights until freedom, return, and self-determination.