Hamas-Linked Groups in UK Launch Campaign Demanding "Freedom for Palestinian Hostages"
The campaign, organized by the Palestinian Forum in Britain alongside the Global Sumud Flotilla, coincides with UK government probe into whether to sanction Forum leader Zaher Birawi as a terrorist
The Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB) and the Global Sumud Flotilla have launched a joint campaign, “Demanding Freedom for Palestinian Hostages.” The initiative invites supporters to take part in a red ribbon online action by updating their profile pictures and sharing videos or messages that feature the ribbon for “Palestinian hostages.” The campaign begins at 8 p.m. Jerusalem time on January 15th and leads up to coordinated street demonstrations on January 31st.
The campaign has drawn attention for its deliberate use of a red ribbon, a clear appropriation of the yellow ribbon that has become an internationally recognized symbol of solidarity with the 253 Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas during the October 7th terror attack. By adopting similar imagery and language, the campaign seeks to reframe convicted or detained terrorist prisoners as “hostages,” attempting to draw a moral equivalence between civilians kidnapped by Hamas and individuals imprisoned for terrorism related offenses.
The collaboration, promoted on social media in early January 2026, comes as UK Treasury investigators examine whether to impose sanctions on PFB leader and Freedom Flotilla Coalition International Zaher Birawi under counter-terrorism regulations. Both PFB and the Global Sumud Flotilla have documented ties to individuals and entities designated as terrorist organizations and operatives.
Birawi Under Investigation
According to the Telegraph, HM Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation confirmed in December 2025 it is investigating Zaher Birawi for potential designation under Counter-Terrorism Sanctions Regulations 2019.
Birawi both chairs PFB and heads the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza. He has also called himself a “founding member” of the Freedom Flotilla International Coalition aid boat Madleen. He has denied all allegations, describing them as “baseless.” If sanctioned, he would face asset freezes and prohibitions on receiving funds or economic resources.
Labour MP Christian Wakeford named Birawi in Parliament in October 2023 as a “Hamas operative living in London” and asked, “Given the national security implications, can we have an urgent statement in Government time on what the Home Office is doing about Hamas operatives here in Britain?“ Israel designated Birawi as a main Hamas operative in Europe in 2013.
Photographs document Birawi with senior Hamas officials including former leader Ismail Haniyeh and military chief Mahmoud Zahar. He hosted a 2019 London event titled “Understanding Hamas” and organized the 2025 Gaza flotilla that included climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Hamas Documents Confirm Flotilla Ties
According to The Times of Israel, Zaher Birawi also heads the Palestinian Conference for Palestinians (PCPA) in the UK. In September 2025, Israeli authorities released captured Hamas documents showing PCPA’s operational role in the Global Sumud Flotilla as well as proving Hamas’s direct involvement in the operation. The documents included a 2021 letter from Haniyeh endorsing PCPA and identified Saif Abu Keshk as both a PCPA member and CEO of Cyber Neptune, a company Israel claims owns dozens of flotilla vessels. The seized document also listed Birawi as a member.
These findings corroborated a Jewish Onliner investigation published two months earlier that documented steering committee members’ meetings with officials from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Multiple Global Sumud Flotilla steering committee members terror connections have also been under fire. Global Sumud Flotilla steering committee member Wael Nawar has been photographed meeting with Hamas representative Youssef Hamdan in Algeria and Hamas representative Ahmed Abd al-Hadi in Lebanon. He also met with PIJ leader Ihsan Attaya in an event surrounding Hassan Nasrallah’s funeral and attended the funeral itself.
Muhammad Nadir Al-Nuri, another steering committee member, funded a directorate building for Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Social Development and was photographed with senior Hamas politburo member Ghazi Hamad. His organization donated $1 million to Gaza Civil Defense, whose spokesperson the IDF identified as an active Hamas military wing member.
Network of Terror-Tied Groups Working Together
Both, PFB and the Palestinian Return Centre operate from the same office building in north London, according to The Telegraph. PRC was banned in Israel in 2010 as Hamas’s European organizational arm. It’s director Majed al-Zeer was sanctioned by the US Treasury in October 2024 who described him as “one of the senior Hamas members in Europe who has played a central role in the terrorist group’s European fundraising.”
The November 2022 flotilla meeting which verified the partnership also included the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, which Israel designated as a terrorist organization in October 2021 over documented PFLP connections. An independent investigation found 34 UAWC employees held dual positions within both UAWC and PFLP.
Political Convergence
The July 2025 launch of the Global Alliance for Palestine in London brought together Birawi, PFB chairman Adnan Hmidan, and former UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Also attending was PFB official Ziad El-Aloul, who publicly celebrated the October 7th attacks as a “moment of glory” and was photographed with Hamas representative Abd al-Hadi in Lebanon during a January 2023 delegation.
PFB organized the June 2025 “Red Line for Palestine” protest that saw thousands encircle UK Parliament demanding an arms embargo against Israel. The organization also raised $50,000 at its November 2025 London Palestine Festival, where Birawi delivered the keynote address.
The current joint campaign continues this pattern of coordination between organizations whose leadership maintains documented relationships with designated terrorist groups while operating openly in the UK.
What Palestinian hostages ?🤔🤔
Sickening