The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) will hold a public hearing tomorrow examining the relisting of Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades as part of its larger Review into the relisting of five organisations as terrorist organisations under the Criminal Code.
Hamas’ Izz al-Din al Qassam Brigades are the paramilitary wing of Hamas and have been listed as a terrorist organisation by the Government since 2003. The Committee will hear from experts on Hamas as well as from Government agencies such as the Department of Home Affairs and ASIO.
Chair of the Committee, Senator James Paterson, said evidence presented to the committee by experts would help determine whether the listing of Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades should be widened to include the entirety of Hamas, which is not currently captured.
“The committee has not hesitated in the past to recommend broadening terrorist listings if we believe the evidence supports doing so, for example with Hezbollah. We will carefully consider the case for listing all of Hamas as a terrorist organisation rather than just its paramilitary wing,” Senator Paterson said.
Further information on the inquiry can be obtained from the Committee’s website.
Public Hearing Details
Friday, 1 October 2021
10:00AM – 1:00PM (AEST)
Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra
A program for the hearing can be found here and the hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live
Media inquiries:
Chair, Senator James Paterson via Deborah Seccombe on 0451 255 891 or deborah.seccombe@aph.gov.au
For background information:
Committee Secretariat
(02) 6277 2360
pjcis@aph.gov.au
For more information about this Committee, you can visit its website. On the site, you can make a submission to an inquiry, read other submissions, and get details for upcoming public hearings. You can also track the Committee and receive email updates by clicking on the blue ‘Track Committee’ button in the bottom right hand corner of the page.
