Scottish Greens leader says ‘political wing’ of Hamas should NOT be proscribed as terror group

While the military wing of the Gaza-controlling organisation should remain proscribed, he said, its political wing must be “engaged with for the purposes of finding peace”.

Hamas’s political wing is led by Khalil al-Hayya, who helped plot the devastating October 7 attacks.

The Palestinian political leader has also described the attack, which killed at least 1,200, as a “source of pride for our people” and a “great act” in separate instances.

But Mr Greer insisted there was a clear distinction between the two groups.

Asked about his position, he said: “For the purposes of peace negotiations, Hamas the political party being on the proscribed list is actually a barrier to peace.

“The UK government only did that a couple of years ago.”

The Green co-leader, who was just 21 years old when first elected as an MSP in 2016, drew a comparison to the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin, arguing peace in Northern Ireland could never have been achieved if the political group was banned.

He added: “Since the October 7 attacks, we’ve clarified that the military wing absolutely should be proscribed because of these actions.

“But the political wing needs to be engaged with for the purposes of finding peace, just as we here in the UK did in Northern Ireland.”

While the Greens in England have recently become embroiled in controversy after passing their “Zionism is racism” motion, the Scottish Greens have long shared the view.

In 2015, the party passed a motion calling for Hamas to no longer be described as a terrorist organisation, and condemned “Zionism as a racist ideology based on Jewish supremacy in Palestine”.

The Government first proscribed the military wing of Hamas in 2001, but under Sir Tony Blair, viewed the political wing as a separate entity.

But in 2021, it was determined Hamas was a “complex but single terrorist organisation”, and as a result, both sections were proscribed.

When pressed if there remained a distinction between the political and terrorist wings of Hamas, Mr Greer claimed all parties in peace talks would have committed war crimes.

He said: “If we want to reach a peaceful solution for Israel and Palestine, that requires negotiations between parties who have all committed war crimes.

“Hamas have committed war crimes. The Israeli government have committed war crimes.”

He added: “The reality is Hamas and the Israeli government are guilty of grave war crimes. The only way we can end genocide and the war crimes is with a peaceful resolution. That requires these parties being brought round the table.

“A ceasefire was agreed to because of negotiations with Hamas and the Israeli government. The Israeli government have since breached that ceasefire and murdered about 1,500 people.”

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Greens told The Times the party’s “up-to-date” formal position on the conflict was from a 2023 conference vote, when Greer brought a motion condemning Hamas’s October 7 attacks, as well as Israel’s response.