Palestinian suspect arrested in UK after crossing Channel

Known as ‘Abu Wadee/Wadei’ on various social media channels, the Palestinian suspect was reportedly part of a militant organization in Gaza called the “Tyre-Burning Unit” for years. The extremist group is known for espousing severely antisemitic slogans and is believed to have kept close ties to Hamas, which is seen as a terrorist organization by the UK, the EU, and Israel. 

For several years, 33-year-old Abu Wadee reportedly regularly shared the group’s antisemitic views with roughly 170,000 of his followers on TikTok and nearly 190,000 on YouTube. According to the right-wing British tabloid, The Mail on Sunday, some of his videos have attracted as many as 2.5 million views. At time of writing, his accounts appear to have been suspended.

After initial hesitation to comment on the developments, the UK’s Home Office (Interior Ministry) responded to Wadee’s arrest, confirming in a statement published in British newspapers that “Abdulkarim G., also known as Abu Wadee, has today been charged with knowingly arriving into the UK without leave and has been remanded in custody.”

“The British public can be reassured that we take all steps necessary at all times to protect the nation’s security, including taking action via the Border Security Bill to give the police and immigration officers stronger powers to act where anyone poses a threat,” a Home Office spokesman added.

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Only the beginning of legal proceedings

Wadee is believed to have been among 235 migrants picked up on four small boats in the Channel last week. He was processed at the Manston reception center near Dover, Kent upon arrival. 

According to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, he then remained in the county of Kent for a few days before being taken to hotel accommodation for irregular migrants in Manchester.

This is where later he was arrested on Sunday evening, appearing before Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of arriving in the UK illegally.

Thereafter, he was taken back to Kent for the charges to be further processed at the Maidstone Crown Court. The magistrate has refused to grant Wadee bail.

The case, however, has now been adjourned until April 8, with Wadee reportedly appearing confused in court and saying through an Arabic language interpreter that he didn’t quite understand what was happening to him, and that he thought he was going to die during pre-trial custody.

Asylum requests in several EU countries

The Times newspaper said that Wadee had taken about 18 months to make the journey from Gaza to the UK. Reportedly, he posted footage on social media throughout his journey through Switzerland, Germany and France.

The Independent newspaper meanwhile reported that he had previously lodged asylum applications in Greece, Germany and Belgium before crossing to the UK.

It is unclear at this point, just how far those applications in Greece and Germany may have preceded but according to prosecutor Robyn Lynch, Wadee was denied asylum in Belgium. British authorities said they will work closely with their European partners to ascertain further details about his asylum cases.

InfoMigrants reached out to the Home Office for further comment and an update on the development, however, at the time of publishing this article, no response had been sent.

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Antisemitism

British authorities have meanwhile established that Wadee left Gaza before the October 7 attacks in 2023, during which gunmen affiliated with Hamas entered Israeli territory from Gaza, killing over 1,100 people that day and taking around 250 hostages back with them. 

It appears that Wadee is not directly linked to the events of that day but that his affiliation with certain groups and some of the hate speech he has reportedly shared online could still qualify him as a terror suspect.

The Daily Telegraph says that since it is likely that Wadee could be considered a senior member of the “Tyre-Burning Unit” group, and was in particular allegedly in charge of manning the border with Gaza before the events of October 7 and the subsequent outbreak of the war in Gaza, he could face additional charges.

Among other things, there is reportedly video footage of him online, which would appear to have been filmed prior to October 7, where he is reportedly seen throwing burning projectiles into Israeli territory and at Israeli forces.

In another social media post, Wadee reportedly writes that his biggest hope is to “die for the sake of Allah,” as well as calling for the death of every Jew in the world.

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Government ministers to answer questions

The case meanwhile has also renewed the political debate on the safety of the UK’s borders. Conservative party MP and shadow home secretary Chris Philp said that he will try to question government ministers over the developments.

“What the Home Office needs to do is identify where this despicable individual is and, frankly, remove him from the country back to Palestine immediately,” Philp told the right-wing private British television channel GB News.

“He clearly has no place in the United Kingdom and potentially poses a threat to our fellow citizens. This just illustrates why it is so important to get control of our borders and to stop these boat crossings,” he added.

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