Hamas-linked Anti-Israel Parliamentary Lobby Network in Europe
A Turkey-based advocacy organization with ties to Hamas is attempting to recruit European politicians to support policies and actions that demonize and delegitimize Israel.
The League of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds and Palestine (LP4Q), a political lobby network “of about 1500 parliamentarians, from all over the world,” describes itself as a “foundation established in October 2015 at the initiative of parliamentarians who support Palestinian rights.” In April 2024, at a LP4Q conference, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that “the League of Parliamentarians for al-Quds has Become the Voice of the Palestinian Issue at the Global Level.”
While originally comprising MPs from Muslim countries, LP4Q is aggressively expanding into Europe. At least two of its board members are linked to Hamas and have been sanctioned by the US government.
Significantly, LP4Q is not transparent regarding its sources of financing. In 2021, LP4Q signed a “protocol cooperation” with a Turkish governmental institution, the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities, and agreed with state-run news agency Anadolu the same year “to engage and coordinate in order to serve the Palestinian and the cause of Jerusalem in the media and to confront the disinformation and falsification campaigns of the Israeli media machine, as well as to activate the media role of the Association in cooperation with the Agency.” In June 2022, LP4Q visited the headquarters of Al-Jazeera in Qatar. During the meeting, “issues related to strengthening and coordinating efforts between Al Jazeera and the League were reviewed to serve the Palestinian cause.” The LP4Q delegation also met with the Qatari Shura Council (Qatar’s legislative body) and “agreed…on specific projects to support Al-Quds and the Palestinian cause.”
Any amounts related to these agreements were not disclosed.
Senior officials’ links to Hamas
LP4Q President Hamid bin Abdullah Al-Ahmar is a Yemeni businessman who was designated by the US in October 2024. According to the US Treasury Department, Al-Ahmar is
“a Yemeni national living in Türkiye, is one of the most prominent international supporters of Hamas. He is a key member of Hamas’s once-secret investment portfolio, which at its peak managed over $500 million worth of assets enabling Hamas’s leaders to live in luxury outside the Palestinian territories despite the real humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza. Since at least 2013, Al Ahmar has also been the chairman of the Lebanon-based Hamas sham charity Al-Quds International Foundation, which OFAC designated in October 2012 for being controlled by Hamas. Al Ahmar is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Hamas. Al Ahmar is also being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Al-Quds International Foundation.” (Emphases added).
In March 2021, LP4Q President Hamid bin Abdullah Al-Ahmar met Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and “discussed the political developments related to the Palestinian issue, the dangers facing it, ways to confront them, and the required national, regional, and international work strategies, especially within the parliamentary framework represented by the Parliamentarians for Jerusalem Association” (emphasis added).
Additionally, multiple board members and officials have ties to Hamas:
- According to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, LP4Q board member Sayed Salem Abu-Msameh is “one the founders of Hamas” and was a “consultant for Ismail Haniyeh.” Previously, he served as a “senior leader in Hamas’ military wing in Rafah,” and according to several reports, he was sentenced by Israel to twelve years in prison for his role in establishing Hamas’ military wing, Izz ad Din Al-Qassam Brigades. Abu-Msameh is also sanctioned by the US government.
- Hasan Turan, a Turkish MP who serves as a LP4Q board vice-president, also has reported ties to Hamas. According to an April 2024 report by Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, “Turan plays one of the most—if not the most—prominent government roles in facilitating Hamas’ goals. In day-to-day advocacy, Turan plays a point by organizing high-level meetings between senior Hamas leaders and Turkish political elites.”
- LP4Q board member Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela was denied a visa to the UK in October 2024 due to his having “made multiple statements which explicitly support Hamas and their terrorist violence, including glorifying the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and their recently deceased leader Ismail Haniyeh.” According to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy Mandela also “hosted three Hamas officials in South Africa in December 2023 for an event honoring his grandfather’s legacy.”
- During LP4Q’s April 2024 conference in Istanbul, a delegation of Algerian MPs met with Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh. The delegation was led by Ahmed Kharchi, an Algerian MP who also serves as a LP4Q board vice-president.

Ahmed Kharchi standing next to Haniyeh in Istanbul (2024)
- Fadli Zon is an Indonesian MP who also serves as a LP4Q board vice-president. Following the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Zon tweeted in honor of the “Martyr Hamas leader.” In 2021, Zon met with Haniyeh in Istanbul.

Zon standing next to Haniyeh in Istanbul (2021)

The New Executive Board of the League of Parliamentarians for al-Quds and Palestine Holds its First Meeting (May 2024)
Expansion in Europe
Having an “observer membership in the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC), the African Parliamentary Union (APU), the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC), and the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union,” LP4Q has been active mainly in Muslim states, including Qatar and in Africa, and South America.
Recently, LP4Q began expanding its presence in Europe, and since 2023, its members have met with current and former MPs and activists in the European parliament, Italy (here, here, and here), France, Belgium, Germany, UK (here), Ireland, Scotland, and Finland. LP4Q is also “preparing to expand” its activities to Portugal, the Netherlands, and Eastern Europe.
Michele Piras, a controversial former Italian MP, who serves as the “European President of the League of Parliamentarians for al-Quds and Palestine” and as a LP4Q board member, spearheads LP4Q’s expansion in Europe.
- Piras has reportedly “dialogued” with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a US and EU-designated terrorist organization that participated in the October 7th atrocities.
- In 2020, Piras made a blatantly antisemitic statement, declaring that “Millennia of existence of the Jewish community in Europe have produced a very important contamination, precisely of disvalues such as those of racism of white supremacy, or in short of an oppressive way of imposing one’s values.”
On February 9, 2023, a LP4Q delegation that included Al-Ahmar and Piras met MEP Pietro Bartolo (Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats; vice-chair of the civil liberties committee) in the European Parliament. In December 2022, following the Qatargate scandal, Bartolo “halted his involvement in legislation on visa-free travel for Qatar,” and his aide’s office was raided during the investigation. (Bartolo was not reelected in the 2024 European Parliament elections.)
According LP4Q, during the trip, the delegation met several current and former elected officials, including Stefania Ascari (Five Star Movement), Arturo Scotto, Erasmo Palazzoto, and Stefano Vaccari. The delegation was also received in Amnesty International’s offices.
On May 14, 2023, LP4Q organized “an extraordinary parliamentary seminar in Italy to discuss ways to support the Palestinian cause in Europe.” During the seminar, attended by Al-Ahmar, Piras “pointed out that the league of Europe is working to build a European parliamentary network supporting the rights of the Palestinian people.” According to the seminar speaker list, several Italian elected officials and Francesca Albanese addressed the event.
In October 2023, Michele Piras “embarked on a crucial networking effort across Europe,” holding meetings in Brussels and Strasbourg with MEP Manu Pineda, then Chairman of the European Parliament delegation for Palestine; Marc Botenga, MEP and leader of the Belgian Workers Party; Pierre Galand, former MP and chair of the Belgian NGO Association Belgo-Palestinienne and of the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP); Malik Ben Achour, Belgian MP; and Ahmed Laaouej, Chairman of the Socialist group of the Belgian Federal Parliament.
According to LP4Q, on February 9, 2024, “the European Network convened its first meeting at the French National Assembly,” with 20 parliamentarians from several European countries. LP4Q noted that “Participants advocated for measures such as the cessation of military cooperation with Israel, an arms embargo, an immediate ceasefire, and the provision of humanitarian aid to civilians. Additionally, support was voiced for pursuing legal avenues, including actions before the International Court of Justice, to ensure severe condemnation of Israeli crimes.”
As part of the European network’s launch, on February 27, 2024, 160 current and former European parliamentarians signed a petition outlining their positions on the French communist website L’Humanité. The signatories include 99 French, 23 Italian, 12 Belgian, and 14 Spanish MPs/senators/MEPs.

LP4Q Europe network held a meeting in the French National Assembly. From left to right: MP Thomas Portes, Michele Piras, MP Malik Ben Achour
In April 2024, under the name “European Network of Parliamentarians for Palestine,” LP4Q held a press conference, marking the official launch of the group in the European Parliament. In addition to Piras, the event featured MP Thomas Portes (France), MP Malik Ben Achour (Belgium), MEP David Cormand (France, the Greens), MEP Manu Pineda (Spain, GUE), and Senator Raymonde Poncet Monge (France).

LP4Q Europe network held its first press conference in the European Parliament (April 2024). From Left to Right: MEP David Cormand, MP Malik Ben Achour, Michele Piras, Senator Raymonde Poncet Monge, MP Thomas Portes