Palestine supporters gather at London’s Trafalgar Square

A man who ‘ran Hamas’ terrorist operations’ now lives in a council house in an area of London home to a fifth of the UK’s Jewish community.

Muhammad Qassem Sawalha, 62, left the West Bank in the ‘90s by using a relative’s passport to avoid Israeli authorities, the Times reported.

After gaining UK citizenship, Sawalha continued his work with Hamas, holding secret discussions about “revitalising” terrorist acts in Israel and helping launder money to fund the group, according to a 2004 US Department of Justice indictment.

The father of four moved into a two-storey home in Barnet, north London, in 2003. He lives there with his wife Sawsan, 56. They bought the home for £320,700 using the Right to Buy scheme in 2021.

Barnet is home to 56,616 Jewish people, the highest population of the community anywhere in Britain, according to the Office for National Statistics.

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Council leader Barry Rawlings said he was ‘horrified to think Sawalha could be living in our midst’ and has launched a review.

He said: “We will liaise with other stakeholders including the police and the government in reviewing the full history of this case and will take all appropriate action.

“This has emerged at a time when communities locally are in desperate need of reassurance following the escalating conflict in the Middle East, and we have a responsibility as the council to ensure we can give that reassurance.”

The council was informed in 2020 of Sawalha’s background by campaign group UK Lawyers for Israel and they forwarded the information to the Met Police counterterrorism unit.

Officers from the National Terrorist Financing Investigation Unit determined there was not enough evidence that the tenancy agreement contravened sanctions legislation and no further action was taken.

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In 2009, Sawalha signed a declaration that made a plea for weapons to be sent to Gaza, demanded a ‘Third Jihadist Front be set up in Palestine, and commended Allah for ‘routing the Zionist Jews’.

He served on Hamas’ politburo from 2013 to 2017. And in 2019, Sawalha met Vladimir Putin’s deputy foreign minister at an official Hamas delegation to Moscow.

Israel has officially designated him as belonging to Hamas and he will face arrest should he return.

Sawalha has never faced any charges in the UK.

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