Alleged Hamas supporter remanded into custody after small-boat crossing

Alleged Palestinian gunman Abu Wadee, who reportedly called for the slaughter of Jews, has been remanded into custody charged with illegal entry into the UK, after arriving on a small boat.

Wadee, 33, who gave his name in court as Mosab Abdulkarim Al-Gassas and spoke through an Arabic interpreter, told Manchester Magistrates’ Court: “I will die in prison. The situation in the cell is difficult, especially during Ramadan.”

He shook his head as he was handcuffed and taken away.

Wadee had pleaded not guilty to a single charge of arriving into the UK without leave or valid entry clearance, after being charged with the offence on Monday.

He was arrested by immigration enforcement officers on Sunday after arriving off a small boat in Kent last Thursday, March 6, having paid smugglers 1,500 euros, the court heard.

Wadee was then placed in a hotel in the Manchester area.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge and was told he had the right for his trial to be heard at that court or by a judge and jury at a crown court.

Wadee replied: “I really don’t know. I’m frightened, confused. I really don’t know.”

District Judge Jane Hamilton ordered the case to be heard at Maidstone Crown Court, Kent.

Robin Lynch told the court Wadee arrived in the UK on March 6 and because he is from Palestine he needed to have applied for clearance for entry.

His arrival in the UK made national headlines after it was reported Wadee, a Palestinian from the city of Khan Yunis in Gaza, had posted on social media support for terror group Hamas and hate-speech calling for the death of Jews.

Wadee left Palestine in 2022 and had made claims for asylum in Greece, Germany and Belgium.

No decision had been reached on his applications in Greece or Germany but had been refused by Belgium.

As he was remanded into custody Wadee said: “I’m a victim of Hamas. I’m wanted by Hamas, I have evidence of that.”

It also reported that Wadee posted a video on his Facebook page last September in which he is filmed calling for Allah to “punish (Jews) completely”.

In another picture posted on Facebook in March 2021, it is claimed Wadee stared into the camera while smoking a cigarette and brandishing an assault rifle with a telescopic sight.

A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism, which first flagged Wadee’s social media posts on X, had said on Friday: “A jihadi whose stated ambition is ‘to die for the sake of Allah’ and prayed for the slaughter of all Jews must not be permitted to be at large in this country.”

The Mail on Sunday claimed Wadee has a large following on social media, where his TikTok videos attract up to 2.5 million views.

He is alleged to have charted his journey from Gaza on the social media channel, including posting footage of his dinghy being approached by the Border Force vessel.

As part of his journey across Europe, he posted a picture of himself in Brussels on Valentine’s Day, and then in central Paris earlier this month.

He will next appear at Maidstone Crown Court on April 8.