Al-Khair Foundation strongly denies UK Lawyers for Israel allegation of Hamas links
A major British charity has strongly denied allegations it is linked to Hamas after being placed under investigation following a complaint by the group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).
It emerged last month that Al-Khair Foundation is being investigated by Britain's Charity Commission and the Department for Education.
In July, Mohammad Yousef Hasna, who Al-Khair has described as "an employee of a partner charity delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza", was arrested in Britain on behalf of American prosecutors.
US federal prosecutors accused Hasna of providing material support to Hamas, which is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the US and the UK.
They did not make any charges against the Al-Khair Foundation, which has said Hasna is not an employee.
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But UK Lawyers for Israel submitted a complaint to the Charity Commission "alleging links between the international aid charity and Hamas".
Al‑Khair submitted a serious incident report to the Charity Commission as soon as it learned that Hasna had been detained in the UK on suspicion of terrorism offences - before the regulator opened its inquiry.
The charity said on Wednesday: "We unreservedly condemn violence and extremism of all kinds.
"Al-Khair Foundation as an organisation categorically denies any allegation of channelling support to, supporting or assisting Hamas or any proscribed entity in Gaza or elsewhere."
The charity added: "The Foundation is responding to the Commission's questions, addressing any concerns raised, and acting where needed.
"It has appointed an Independent consultant to establish the facts and provide them, alongside other legal and relevant information, to the inquiry process."
The Department for Education is also seeking information from four schools which Al-Khair runs, three in London and one in Oldbury in the Midlands.
The charity said: "The schools are operationally separate from the charity's humanitarian and aid work, and have no connection to Mr Hasna.
"The schools recognise the need for questions from the Department for Education and are responding to all of them."
UKLFI creating 'chilling environment'
In the past few years, the Israeli government has repeatedly accused charities operating in Gaza of links to Hamas.
Al-Khair said it "is deeply committed to supporting those in need in Gaza".
The charity added: "Our programmes have helped sustain large numbers of vulnerable families, reduce hunger, and maintain lifesaving assistance in exceptionally difficult conditions.
"We hope the inquiry process will allow us to present evidence that will establish the facts of the work of AKF, and the realities of our humanitarian operations in Gaza."
Since it was founded in 2011, the advocacy group UKLFI has been at the forefront of efforts to discredit and pressure individuals and organisations that criticise Israeli policies or express solidarity with Palestinians.
UKLFI appears 128 times in the European Legal Support Centre's Britain Index of Repression database, which documents what it describes as the systematic repression of Palestine solidarity activism across Britain.
The centre argued that UKLFI has helped to create a "chilling environment" in which individuals and organisations withdraw or modify lawful Palestine-related activity due to fears of legal escalation.
In the centre's analysis, UKLFI appears repeatedly as an "initiating" or "escalating" actor against acts of Palestinian solidarity - often through complaint letters, legal threats or public pressure that prompts schools, universities, employers and public bodies to open disciplinary procedures or cancel events.
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