Man Who Shared Pro-Hamas Posts Online Spared Jail for Terror Offence

A general view of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, on Aug. 9, 2013. Alastair Grant/AP Photo

A man who admitted to a terror charge after posting support for Hamas on social media has been spared jail and was handed a suspended sentence.

Ozain Yousef, 23, of Mexborough Place, Leeds, was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to 16 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for two years. Yousef was ordered to pay £85 in costs and a victims surcharge of £154. He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

Police arrested Yousef on Nov. 24, 2023 on suspicion of supporting a banned organisation after receiving a report that Yousef had posted extremist material in support of Hamas on social media platform X. He had made the posts following Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Judge Daniel Sternberg said the sentence was “not in any sense a commentary” on the events in Israel and Gaza, adding, “What is beyond any dispute is that Hamas is a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000.”

‘Brother’ of Hamas

Following his arrest, police seized Yousef’s phone and found that a large amount of pro-Hamas content, both images and videos, had been posted to his X account. Yousef had also posted one pro-Hezbollah video.

Between July 9 and Sept. 26, 2023, Yousef made no reference to the Palestinian territories.

However, from Oct. 9, two days after Hamas launched its terror attack on Israel, virtually all of Yousef’s posts had been related to Gaza before transitioning into support for the Palestinian terror group.

In one post, Yousef directly acknowledged Hamas, aligning himself as a “brother” of the banned organisation. In another post to X, he re-shared an image of a sniper from the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

Caught Up in the ‘Toxic Environment’ of Social Media

Yousef’s defence lawyer Kara Froth told the court that her client had been “caught up in the toxic environment of social media” and was “very ashamed of where that led him.”

Ms. Frith added that Yousef was “adamant” he did not believe everything he shared on social media and was “truly remorseful.”

“He cannot take back what he did, but he can and does apologise for any offence caused,” she said.

Judge Sternberg said that Yousef had “plainly engaged in persistent conduct” intended to show support for the banned terror group. The judge added that the prosecution said this was done in a “deliberate, provocative, and malicious” way.

Addressing Yousef in his sentencing remarks, Judge Sternberg said, “This is an opportunity for you to show that what happened was out of character and there will be no repetition of this behaviour.”

“You expressed embarrassment for bringing shame to your family through this incident. You admitted what you posted on social media was extreme but you didn’t consider the wider impact,” he added.

The icons of mobile apps are seen on the screen of a smart phone in New Delhi, India, on May 26, 2021. Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images

More Than 3,000 Public Referrals Related to Israel–Hamas War

The Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) said it has received more than 3,000 public referrals since October 2023 relating to the Israel–Hamas war, the majority relating to pro-Hamas content.

Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, said the referrals reflected the “real willingness from the public to tell us about concerning content.”

“As the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, UK policing is working closely with affected communities to offer support and reassurance at a time of heightened emotion, anxiety and fear,” Mr. Dunkerley said in a statement following Yousef’s sentencing.

He continued that supporting or glorifying acts of terrorism “helps to further terrorist objectives by extending their reach and influence.”

“Anyone demonstrating support for proscribed organisations like Hamas can expect to be prosecuted,” he said, adding, “We will deny them any opportunity to increase their profile or promote their violent agenda.”

3 Women Convicted Over Parachute Images

In February, three women who displayed images that appeared to show a parachutist or paraglider during a pro-Palestine protest days after the Oct. 7 attack were convicted of a terror offence.

Heba Alhayek, 29, Pauline Ankunda, 26, and Noimutu Olayinka Taiwo, 27, had denied carrying or displaying an article to arouse reasonable suspicion they are supporters of Hamas, at a march through Whitehall, London, on Oct. 14, 2023.

District Judge Tan Ikram rejected the defence’s assertion the image was a symbol of “flight and escape” from Gaza, which was described during the trial as the “world’s largest outdoor prison.”

A screen grab of video footage of Pauline Ankunda (L) and Heba Alhayek (R) wearing images of paragliders during a pro-Palestinian rally in central London, on Oct. 14, 2023. Metropolitan Police

He said a “reasonable person” would see the images, in the context of the march, as referring to Hamas’s use of paragliders during the Oct. 7 terror attacks.

Judge Ikram said there was no evidence any of the defendants had supported Hamas or intended to do so by their use of the images, telling the women he believed they had had a “lesson well-learned” and said he had decided “not to punish” them. He gave all three a 12-month conditional discharge.

Chris Summers and PA Media contributed to this report.