He also mourned Hamas finance chief Ismail Barhoum, who was killed by an Israeli strike in March, writing: “May Allah have mercy on him and accept his martyrdom.”
In other posts, he called for Palestinians to be “given arms to defend themselves” and said “Israel will soon be a thing of the past.” He said, “Every Zionist and collaborator that enabled its genocidal existence will be hunted down and brought to justice.”
Ansari has also said that he supports the Palestinian's right to “resist the racist, colonial settler state imposed upon them for over 75 years”.
Days after the October 7 massacre, he condemned the UK Foreign Office for illuminating in the colours of the Israeli flag, accusing them of “siding with the colonial power carrying out genocide tonight”.
In other posts, he said Hamas were “concerned” with the “safety and well being” of the Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza and suggested that Israel’s statement that Hamas killed the Bibas children was a lie.
After some of his prior comments began to circulate on social media following Riverway’s announcement, he posted: “Any empathy that I have demonstrated towards the victims of the ongoing holocaust in Gaza do not in any way detract from the robust merits of this legal application. Israel is a settler colonial apartheid state.”
Meanwhile, Magennis was investigated by the Bar Standards Board’s Independent Decision-Making Body (IDB) last year after he posted a comment on X on October 7, 2023 stating: “Victory to the intifada.”
He wrote: “For almost two decades ‘Israel’ has trapped more than two million people in an open air prison for the ‘crime’ of being insufficiently Jewish. We owe Palestinians our solidarity in their struggle against this naked racial domination. Victory to the intifada.”
Despite the post, which remains live on Magennis’s profile, the IDB ultimately dismissed the complaint.
Magennis also reposted information about an anti-Israel protest outside the Israeli embassy on October 9 and reposted the accusation that Israel was committing “genocide” later that month.
A repost on Hamas barrister Franck Magennis's X profile[Missing Credit]
He also used a picture of Hamas terrorists breaking into southern Israel as his X profile banner, and shared a post which called it “one of the most iconic, hopeful images of our time”.
He has since changed his banner to an image of Ghassan Kanafani, the former spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who was assassinated by Mossad.
A separate post pinned at the top of his profile states: “Zionism is a kind of racism. It is essentially colonial. It has manifested in an apartheid regime calling itself ‘the Jewish state’ that dominates non-Jews, and particularly Palestinians.
“You can't practice anti-racism at the same time as identifying with, or supporting, Zionism."
In other posts on X, he has called for Israel and Zionism to be “dismantled” and called the latter “a depraved and failed ideology”
Magennis also announced that he had unfollowed the Auschwitz Museum’s official social media account in the wake of October 7, writing: “I used to follow your account, but stopped when you openly sided with a state while it commits genocide.”
Riverway Law, which has called its application “The Hamas case,” told the JC that, while the firm would “love to have been paid for the work that we have carried out,” the terror group did not pass any funds to it – which, it added, would have been illegal without special dispensation from the Treasury.
The firm changed its own banner picture on X – which previously said “end Zionist control of the UK government” and “Zionism out of our courts” – on the day the trio submitted the case.
The firm is receiving assistance from senior Hamas figure Mousa Abu Marzouk (Image: Getty)Getty Images
Commenting on the filing, a spokesperson for the Board of Deputies said: “As Palestinians in Gaza protest for the removal of Hamas, this deeply misconceived challenge shows the regrettable addiction of large parts of the UK Palestine movement to the terrorist organisation Hamas.
“Hamas documented their own record of murder, rape, and kidnap on October 7th 2023 in obscene detail. Hamas has been proscribed in the UK since 2021 for its longstanding record of terror.
“The firm and others assisting them in bringing this case for Hamas should be ashamed of their support for a proscribed terrorist organisation.”
In a previous statement regarding the case, Riverway Law said: "As lawyers we believe in the rule of law and due process. While we would of course love to have been paid for the work that we have carried out, the current designation of Hamas as a sanctioned organisation means that it is a criminal offence to take any money from them for our services, without obtaining a license from the Treasury.
“The process is long and cumbersome and, in the circumstances, we did not want that to operate as an obstacle to our client securing representation that all clients are entitled to. Every one of the 20 expert witnesses who submitted a report in support of the application also acted without payment, evidencing the collective desire for a way forward out of the very dark times we are witnessing.”
Addressing the accusations regarding Ansari’s social media activity, a Riverway spokesperson said: "There is an established convention that lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions, precisely because it endangers lawyers for carrying out their duties.
"We are also familiar with the British state’s history of breaching this convention, the dark low point of which resulted in the murder of lawyers like Patrick Finucane and Rosemarie Nelson. More recently in 2020, the Law Society and Bar Council had to write to former Home Secretary Priti Patel requesting her to refrain from making such attacks on immigration lawyers after a Far-Right terrorist attacked the staff in the offices of a well-known immigration firm in London.
“Any media outlet that continues to promote this narrative in relation to us is effectively placing a target on our backs, and knows it. Our staff have already been inundated with hate calls and death threats with attempts to dox them. We will hold you responsible for any consequential harm that may result from your coverage.”
Riverway has itself posted a video of its legal team submitting the application at the Home Office on its official X account, prominently featuring both Ansari and Magennis.
The Home Office has 90 days to respond to Hamas’ application – though a spokesperson has confirmed it is yet to officially receive the filing, which was hand delivered, as all applications must be submitted by post.
The JC has approached Magennis for comment.
